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COMENIUS 



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Edited by NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER 



COMENIUS 



THE BEGINNINGS OF EDUCATIONAL 
REFORM 



BT 



WILL S. MONROE, A.B. 

PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY IN THE 
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT WESTFIELD, MASS. 



NEW YORK 
CHAELES SCEIBNEE'S SONS 

1900 



64890 



12400 



Library of Congress! 

Two Copies Received [ 
JUN 29 1900 

Copyright ent-y 

pirn* t?,'?0O 
CUffAG 

SECOND COPY. 

Ot-Iiveifd In 

0R0ER DIVISION, 

JUL 11 1900 



No. 



COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



1 "? 



Nortoooti ^Press 

J. S. dishing & Co. —Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

The present volume is an effort to trace the reform 
movement in education from Vives, Bacon, and Ratke 
to Comenius, who gave the movement its most signifi- 
cant force and direction; and from him to the later 
reformers, — Francke, Eousseau, Basedow, Pestalozzi, 
Frobel, and Herbart. A variety of ideas, interests, 
and adaptations, all distinctly modern, are represented 
in the life-creeds of these reformers; and, in the 
absence of a more satisfactory term, the progressive 
movement which they represent has been styled real- 
ism, — sometimes called the "new education." 

It has been well said that " the dead hand of spirit- 
ual ancestry lays no more sacred duty on posterity 
than that of realizing under happier circumstances 
ideas which the stress of age or the shortness of life 
has deprived of their accomplishment." Many of the 
reforms represented by the realists occupy no incon- 
siderable place in the platforms of modern practi- 
tioners of education ; and in the belief that a history 
of the movement might contribute toward the ulti- 
mate reforms which realism represents, it has seemed 
expedient to focus such a survey on the life and 
teachings of the strongest personality and chief expo- 
nent of the movement. 

The condition of education in Europe during the 
sixteenth century is briefly told in the opening chap- 



vi PREFACE 

ter ; following are given the traces of the educational 
development of Comenius in the writings of Vives, 
Bacon, and Batke ; three chapters are devoted to the 
life of Comenius and the reforms in which he actively 
participated ; an exposition of his educational writings 
has three chapters ; a chapter is given to the influence 
of Comenius on Francke, Bousseau, Pestalozzi, and 
other modern reformers; and the closing chapter 
sums up his permanent influence. The volume has 
two appendices, — one giving tables of dates relating 
to the life and writings of Comenius, and the other 
a select annotated bibliography. 

In the exposition of the writings of Comenius, the 
author has made liberal use of English and German 
translations from Latin and Czech originals. In the 
case of the Great didactic, the scholarly translation by 
Mr. Keatinge has, in the main, been followed. Free 
translations of portions of this work had been made 
by the author before the appearance of Mr. Keat- 
inge's book; and in some instances these have been 
retained. As regards the account of Comenius' views 
on the earliest education of the child, the author's 
edition of the School of infancy has been followed; 
and in the discussion of reforms in language teaching, 
he is indebted to Mr. Bardeen's edition of the Orbis 
pictus, and to Dr. William T. Harris for the use of 
the handsome Elzevir edition of the Janua, which is 
the property of the Bureau of Education. 

WILL S. MONROE. 

State Normal School, 
Westfield, Mass. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

European Education in the Sixteenth Century 

Humanism, realism, and naturalism characterized — Devo- 
tion of the sixteenth century to the humanistic ideal 
— Study of Latin eloquence — Style the chief aim — 
Neglect of the mother-tongue — Views of John Sturm 
and the Jesuits — Devotion to Cicero — Decadence of 
the later humanists — Erasmus and Melanchthon on 
the enrichment of the course of study — Satires of 
Rabelais directed against the humanists — Protests 
of Montaigne — Attitude of Ascham and Mulcaster — 
Transition from humanism to realism 

CHAPTER II 

Forerunners of Comenius 

Traces of the intellectual development of Comenius. 
Vives a realist — His early training in Spain and 
France — Educational activity in Belgium and Eng- 
land — Views on the education of women — Theory 
of education — Comparison of Comenius and Vives. 
Bacon the founder of modern realism — Views on the 
education of his day — Attacks medievalism — Study 
of nature and the inductive method — Individual dif- 
ferences among children. Ratke — Studies at Ham- 
burg and Rostock — Visits England and becomes 
acquainted with the philosophy of Bacon — His plan 
of education — Its reception by the universities at 
vii 



viii CONTENTS 



Jena and Giessen — Organization of the schools at 
Gotha — Call to Sweden — Summary of Ratke's views 
— Harmony of his teachings with those of Comenius. 
Campanella, Andreae, and Bateus — Their influence 
on the life and teachings of Comenius ... 15 



CHAPTER III 

Boyhood and Early Life of Comenius: 1592-1628 

Ancestry of Comenius — Attends the village school at 
Strasnitz — Studies Latin in the gymnasium at Prerau 

— Character of the Latin schools of his day — Enters 
the college at Herborn — Studies theology and phi- 
losophy — Inspired by the teachings of Alsted — Makes 
the acquaintance of the writings of Ratke — Continues 
his studies at Heidelberg — Begins his career as a 
teacher at Prerau — Ordained as a clergyman — In- 
stalled as pastor and school superintendent at Fulneck 

— Persecution 38 



CHAPTER IV 

Career as an Educational Reformer: 1628-1656 

Flight to Poland — Appointed director of the gymnasium 
at Lissa — Reforms introduced — Literary projects — 
Need of a patron — Call to England — Friendship with 
Hartlib — Interest of the English Parliament — Dis- 
content with existing educational institutions — 
Lewis de Geer, his Dutch patron — Call to Sweden — 
Interview with Oxenstiern — Located at Elbing — 
Reform of the Swedish schools — Return to Poland 

— Consecration as senior bishop — Consequences of 
the treaty of Westphalia — Ecclesiastical ministrations 

— Call to Hungary — Reform of the schools at Saros- 
Patak — Plan of a pansophic school — Return to Lissa 

— The city burned — Flight of Comenius from Poland 47 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER V 
Closing Years: 1656-1670 

PAGE 

Flight to Amsterdam — Reception by Lawrence de Geer 

— Religious freedom in Holland — Publication of the 
complete edition of his writings — Other educational 
activities — The " one thing needful " — Death at 
Amsterdam and burial at Naarden — Eamily history 
of Comenius — Alleged call to the presidency of Har- 
vard College — Portraits — Personal characteristics . 7 1 

CHAPTER VI 

Philosophy of Education 

The Great didactic — Conditions under which produced — 
Aim of the book — Purpose of education — Man's 
craving for knowledge — Youth the time for training 

— Private instruction undesirable — Education for 
girls as well as boys — Uniform methods. Education 
according to nature — How nature teaches — Selection 
and adaptation of materials — Organization of pupils 
into classes — Correlation of studies. Methods of 
instruction — Science — Arts — Language — Morals — 
Religion. Types of educational institutions — The 
mother's school — School of the mother-tongue — 
Latin school — University. School discipline — Char- 
acter and purpose of discipline — Corporal punish- 
ment only in cases of moral perversity ... 83 

CHAPTER VII 
Earliest Education of the Child 

School of infancy — Circumstances under which written 

— View of childhood — Conception of infant educa- 
tion. Physical training — Care of the body — The 
child's natural nurse — Eood — Sleep — Play and exer- 



CONTENTS 



cise. Mental training — Studies which furnish the 
symbols of thought — Nature study — Geography — 
History — Household economy — Stories and fables 
— Principle of activity — Drawing — Arithmetic — 
Geometry — Music — Language — Poetry. Moral and 
religious training — Examples — Instruction — Disci- 
pline — Some virtues to be taught — Character of 
formal religious instruction 109 



CHAPTER VIII 

Study of Language 

Dominance of Latin in the seventeenth century — Methods 
of study characterized by Comenius. The Janua — 
Purpose and plan — Its success. Atrium and Ves- 
tibulum — Their relation to the Janua. The Orbis 
pictus — Its popularity — Use of pictures. Methodus 
novissima — Principles of language teaching — Func- 
tion of examples — Place of oral and written language 
in education 123 

CHAPTER IX 

Influence of Comenius on Modern Educators 

Francke — Early educational undertakings — The institu- 
tion at Halle — Character of the Psedagogium — Im- 
pulse given to modern education. Rousseau — The 
child the centre of educational schemes — Sense 
training fundamental — Order and method of nature 
to be followed. Basedow — Protests against tradi- 
tional methods — Influenced by the Eraile — His 
educational writings — The Philanthropinnm. Pesta- 
lozzi — Love the key-note of his system — Domestic 
education — Education of all classes and sexes — The 
study of nature — Impulse given to the study of 
geography. Frobel — His relations to Comenius and 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Pestalozzi — Educational value of play and principle 
of self-activity — Women as factors in education. 
Herbart — Assimilation of sense-experience — Train- 
ing in character — Doctrine of interest . . . 142 



CHAPTEE X 

Permanent Influence of Comenius 

General neglect of Comenius during the eighteenth century 
— Causes — Intrenchment of humanism — Summary 
of the permanent reforms of Comenius — Revived 
interest in his teachings — National Comenian peda- 
gogical library at Leipzig — The Comenius Society — 
Reviews published for the dissemination of the doc- 
trines of Comenius — Conquest of his ideas . . 165 



APPENDICES 

I. Table of Dates ....... 173 

II. Select Bibliography 175 

Index • . 181 



COMEjNTIUS 



CHAPTER I 

EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 

Humanism, realism, and naturalism characterized — Devotion of 
the sixteenth century to the humanistic ideal — Study of Latin 
eloquence — Style the chief aim — Neglect of the mother-tongue 
— Views of John Sturm and the Jesuits — Devotion to Cicero — 
Decadence of the later humanists — Erasmus and Melanchthon 
on the enrichment of the course of study — Satires of Rabelais 
directed against the humanists — Protests of Montaigne — Atti- 
tude of Ascham and Mulcaster — Transition from humanism to 
realism. 

"Education in Europe/' says Oscar Browning, 1 
" has passed through, three phases, which may conven- 
iently be called humanism, realism, and naturalism. 
The first is grounded upon the study of language, and 
especially of the two dead languages, Greek and Latin. 
The second is based upon the study of things instead 
of words, the education of the mind through the eye 
and the hand. Closely connected with this is the 
study of those things which may be of direct influ- 
ence upon and direct importance to life. The third is 
not in the first instance study at all. It is an attempt 

1 Aspects of education. By Oscar Browning. New York: In- 
dustrial Educational Association, 1888. 

B 1 



2 COMENIUS 

to build up the whole nature of man, — to educate first 
his body, then his character, and lastly his mind." 

The sixteenth century was wedded to the human- 
istic ideal of education. Without regard for the 
diversity of avocations, classical culture was held to 
be the safest and best -training for the manifold duties 
of life. Aristotle's Politics was considered the wisest 
utterance on the direction of affairs of state ; Csesar's 
Commentaries the safest guides to military eminence ; 
the practical Stoicism of the Latin authors the most 
infallible basis for ethics and the regulation of con- 
duct; and as for agriculture, had not Virgil written 
a treatise on that subject ? It was clear in the minds 
of the sixteenth-century humanists that classical cul- 
ture furnished the best preparation, alike for theo- 
logians and artisans. 

To accomplish this purpose, as soon as the child 
was considered sufficiently matured for linguistic dis- 
cipline, and this varied from the sixth to the ninth 
years, he was initiated into the mysteries of Latin 
eloquence. His preliminary training consisted in a 
verbal study of the Latin grammar for purposes of 
precision in speech and successful imitation; but, as 
the grammar was printed in Latin, with its hundreds 
of incomprehensible rules and exceptions, all of which 
had to be " learned by heart," the way of the young 
learner was, indeed, a thorny one. True, the classical 
authors were later read, but chiefly for the purpose 
of gleaning from them choice phrases to be used in 
the construction of Latin sentences, or for purposes 
of disputations in dialectics. Logic and history were 
given most subordinate places in the course of study, 
the former merely that it might give greater precision 



EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN 16th CENTURY 3 

in writing and speaking, and the latter that it might 
furnish illustrations in rhetorical exercises. 

This conception of education was almost universally 
held in the sixteenth century, by Protestants like 
Trotzendorf and Sturm, as well as by Catholics like 
Aquaviva and the members of the Society of Jesus. 
Nor was it confined to elementary and secondary 
education ; for, as Professor Paulsen 1 has shown, the 
conquest of European universities by the humanists 
was complete by the second decade of the sixteenth 
century. The statutes of most of the universities at 
this time make the speaking of the Latin compulsory. 
That at Ingolstadt reads : " A master in a bursary 
shall induce to the continual use of Latin by verbal 
exhortations and by his own example ; and shall also 
appoint those who shall mark such as speak the vul- 
gar tongue and shall receive from them an irremissible 
penalty." Again: "That the students in their aca- 
demical exercises may learn by the habit of speaking 
Latin to speak and express themselves better, the 
faculty ordains that no person placed by the faculty 
upon a common or other bursary shall dare to speak 
German. Any one heard by one of the overseers to 
speak German shall pay one kreutzer." There grew 
out of this prohibition a widespread system of spying. 
The spies reported to the university authorities on 
such students (vulgarisantes they were called) who 
persisted in speaking in the mother-tongue. In spite, 
however, of statutes, spies, fines, and floggings, the 

1 The German universities : their character and historical devel- 
opment. By Friedrich Paulsen. Authorized translation by Edward 
Delavan Perry, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler. 
New York and London : Macmillan & Co., 1895. pp. xxxi + 251. 



4 COMENIUS 

boys in the sixteenth century spoke little Latin when 
they were alone by themselves. Cordier, 1 writing in 
1530, says, "Our boys always chatter French with 
their companions ; or if they try to talk Latin, cannot 
keep it up." 

The old ecclesiastical Latin of the Middle Ages had 
been superseded by the classical Latin of the Eoman 
poets, and all the energies of the educational institu- 
tions were thrown into the acquisition and practice of 
Latin eloquence. The classics were read for the 
phrases that might be culled for use in the construc- 
tion of Latin sentences; these, with disputations, 
declamations, and Latin plays, were the order of the 
century. Since education consisted in the acquisition 
of a graceful and elegant style, the young learner, 
from the first, applied himself to the grammatical 
study of Latin authors, regarding solely the language 
of the classics, and taking subject-matter into account 
only when this was necessary to understand the words. 

There was no study of the mother-tongue prelimi- 
nary to the study of the classics. Children began at 
once the study of the Latin grammar, and they had to 
write Latin verses before they had been exercised in 
compositions, in the vernacular, or, for that matter, 
before they had been trained to express their thoughts 
in Latin prose. And still more remarkable, as Oscar 
Browning points out, " the Latin taught was not the 
masculine language of Lucretius and Csesar, but the 
ornate and artificial diction of Horace and Virgil, and, 
above all, of Cicero." "There is no doubt," he adds, 
" that narrow and faulty as it was, it gave a good edu- 

1 De corrupti sermonis emendatione. By Maturin Cordier. 
Paris, 1530. Quoted by Mr. Keatinge. 



EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN 16th CENTURY 5 

cation so long as people believed in it. To know 
Horace and Virgil by heart became the first duty of 
the scholar. Speeches in Parliament were considered 
incomplete if they did not contain at least one Latin 
quotation. A false quantity was held to be a greater 
crime than a slip in logical argument. Cicero not 
only influenced the education of English statesmen, 
but had no inconsiderable effect on their conduct." 

The humanist educators of the sixteenth century 
not only neglected the study of the mother-tongue — 
they proscribed it. The Ratio 1 of the Jesuits forbids 
its use except on holidays, and Sturm at Strasburg 
abbreviated the recreation periods of his pupils because 
of risks of speaking in the mother-tongue on the play- 
ground. And all this proscription of the vernacular 
that students might acquire eloquence in a foreign 
tongue. Well does Raumer 2 ask, "Why did they 
continue, like a second Sisyphus, their fruitless 
endeavors to metamorphose German into Eoman 
youths, and to impart to them, in defiance of the 
laws of human nature, another tongue?" 

They were themselves deceived in assuming that 
they could call to life the ancient culture of Rome 
and Greece. Indeed, they believed that they had dis- 
covered ways of training which would develop scholars 
capable of producing Latin works equal to the master- 
pieces that they had studied in their schools. John 
Sturm, one of the most ardent of the humanists, said : 

1 For an account of the schools of the Jesuits see Loyola and the 
educational system of the Jesuits. By Thomas Hughes. New York : 
Charles Scrihner's Sons, 1892. pp. 302. 

2 Gs.schichte der Padagogik. Von Karl von Raumer. Gutersloh : 
Bertelsmann. 1882. 



6 COMENIUS 

" The Eomans had two advantages over us ; the one 
consisted in learning Latin without going to school, 
and the other in frequently seeing Latin comedies and 
tragedies acted, and in hearing Latin orators speak. 
Could we recall these advantages in our schools, why 
could we not, by persevering diligence, gain what they 
possessed by accident and habit — namely, the power 
of speaking Latin to perfection? I hope to see the 
men of the present age, in their writing and speaking, 
not merely followers of the old masters, but equal to 
those who nourished in the noblest age of Athens and 
Rome." But how misguided and mistaken! 

Not only did Latin monopolize the curriculum of 
the sixteenth-century school, but the study was pri- 
marily philological, for grammatical structure, and 
only secondarily for the content of the literature, for 
a correct understanding of the author. As a matter of 
fact, the method of study was such as to make intelli- 
gent comprehension of the author's thought next to im- 
possible, since the humanists simply culled out phrases 
which might be imitated and used in the exercises of 
style. Raumer says of this kind of teaching: "The 
author was not an end, but only a means to an end — 
the cultivation of deified Eoman eloquence in boys. 
And why? Precisely as the peacock was used by the 
jackdaw. They borrowed the author's words and 
phrases, grouped them together, and learned them by 
heart, in order subsequently to apply them in speech 
or writing. Borrow is too feeble an expression ; for 
the jackdaw designed not merely to borrow the pea- 
cock's feathers, but to represent them as his own. 
The doctrine of imitation, as set forth by Sturm and 
the others, was, after all, a mere jackdaw theory. 



EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN 16th CENTURY 7 

The pupil was taught how, by a slight alteration, to 
disguise phrases from Cicero, and then to use them 
in writing or speech, exactly as if they were his own 
productions, so adroitly smuggling them in that the 
readers or hearers might not suspect from whence they 
were taken. Says Sturm: 'When the teacher gives 
out themes for composition, he should draw attention 
to those points where imitation is desirable, and show 
how similarity may be concealed by a superadded 
variation.' Again: 'We must, in the first place, take 
care that the similarity shall not be manifest. Its 
concealment may be accomplished in three ways — by 
adding, by taking away, and by alteration.' " 

In this mad race for Latin eloquence, the sixteenth- 
century humanists became more and more circum- 
scribed in the choice of authors. Sturm, for example, 
placed Cicero at the head of the list, because of the 
faultless models of his eloquence. The Jesuits like- 
wise held Cicero in high esteem. Said one of their 
writers, "Style should be drawn almost exclusively 
from Cicero, although the most approved of the histo- 
rians need not on that account be overlooked. " Again : 
"The pattern we should follow in style is compre- 
hended in the words of the rule, 'imitate Cicero.' As 
in the study of theology we follow the divine Thomas 
Aquinas, and in philosophy Aristotle, so in the 
humanities Cicero must be regarded as our peculiar 
and preeminent leader. For he has been crowned by 
the palm of superior praise by the common consent of 
the world. But some, misguided by a wilful and 
self-formed taste, have gone astray, preferring a style 
totally different from that of Cicero; such an erratic 
course is quite at variance with the genius of our 



8 COMENIUS 

institutions and hostile to the spirit of prompt obedi- 
ence." 

This servile devotion to Cicero, it should be recalled, 
was a marked departure from the more varied and 
richer curricula of the fifteenth -century humanists, 1 
when men of the stamp of Vittorino da Feltre, Leo- 
nardo Bruni, Vergarius, Sylvius, and Guarino were 
the standard-bearers of humanism. Many causes had 
conspired to bring about this decadence; and perhaps 
the most fundamental cause was the senseless worship 
of forms of expression. The later humanists wor- 
shipped the forms of thought. " Beauty of expression," 
says Professor Laurie, 2 "was regarded as inseparable 
from truth and elevation of thought. The movement 
soon shared the fate of all enthusiasms. The new 
form was worshipped, and to it the spirit and sub- 
stance were subordinated. Style became the supreme 
object of the educated classes, and successful imita- 
tion, and thereafter laborious criticism, became marks 
of the highest culture." 

This use of the classics as instruments in grammati- 
cal drill and vehicles of communication had become 
well-nigh universal by the middle of the sixteenth 
century. Erasmus, himself one of the most ardent 
advocates of classical learning, perceived apparently 
the narrowing tendencies of humanistic training, and 
urged that students be taught to know many things 
besides Latin and Greek in order that they might the 

1 See the admirable sketch of the earlier humanists : Vittorino da 
Feltre and other humanists. By William H. Woodward. Cam- 
bridge: University Press, 1897. pp.256. 

2 John Amos Comenius : his life and educational work. By 
S.S.Laurie. Boston: Willard Small, 1885. pp.229. 



EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN 16th CENTURY 9 

better comprehend the classics. He recommended the 
addition of geography, arithmetic, and natural science 
to the school course. 

And Melanchthon, with all his enthusiasm for clas- 
sical learning, thought the humanities insufficient to 
satisfy all the needs of culture. He advised the 
incorporation of physics, mathematics, and astronomy 
into the curriculum. "Although the nature of things 
cannot be absolutely known, nor the marvellous works 
of God traced to their original, until, in the future 
life, we shall listen to the eternal counsel of the 
Father," he writes, "nevertheless, even amid this our 
present darkness, every gleam and every hint of har- 
mony of this fair creation forms a step toward the 
knowledge of God and toward virtue, whereby we our- 
selves shall also learn to love and maintain order and 
moderation in all our acts. Since it is evident that 
men are endowed by their Creator with faculties fitted 
for the contemplation of nature, they must, of neces- 
sity, take delight in investigating the elements, the 
laws, the qualities, and the forces of the various bodies 
by which they are surrounded." 

As has already been shown, however, the humanists 
took little interest in the study of subjects not discussed 
by classical authors. Absorbed in a world of books, 
as Mr. Quick 1 suggests, they overlooked the world of 
nature. Galileo had in vain tried to persuade them 
to look through his telescope, but they held that truth 
could not be discovered by any such contrivances — 
that it could be arrived at only by the comparison of 
manuscripts. "No wonder," remarks Mr. Quick, 

1 Essays on educational reformers. By Robert Hebert Quick. 
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1893. pp. 560. 



10 COMENIUS 

" that they had so little sympathy with children, and 
did not know how to teach them." 

Fortunately for the history of education, there were 
critics in the sixteenth century who did not conform 
to the dogma of linguistic discipline, and who called 
attention to the need of educational reform. What- 
ever the merits of the classical languages, protested 
these critics, they must derive their value ultimately 
from the rank they take as literature. The protest of 
Eabelais early in the century was not only one of the 
first but one of the most effective charges against con- 
temporary practices. In his famous satire he intrusted 
the young giant Gargantua to the care and training of 
the humanist educator Tubal Holofernes, who spent 
five years and a quarter in teaching him to say his 
A B C's backward; thirteen years on Donatus' Latin 
grammar and the composition of Latin verses and sen- 
tences ; thirty-four years more in the study of Latin 
eloquence, after which the schoolmaster dies, when, as 
Eabelais concluded, Gargantua had grown more igno- 
rant, heavy, and loutish. "In this confused and 
ribald allegory/ 7 says Mr. James P. Munroe, 1 "Rabe- 
lais led the way out of ancient superstition into mod- 
ern science. More than this, he taught in it that the 
study of Nature, observation of her laws, imitation of 
her methods, must be at the root of every true system 
of education. He showed that the Nature spirit is the 
true spirit of good teaching. Ever since his day civil- 
ized mankind has been trying to learn this lesson of 
his and to apply it in the schools. For three centuries 

1 The educational ideal : an outline of its growth in modern 
times. By James Phinny Munroe. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co,, 
1895. pp. 262. 



EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN 16th CENTURY 11 

the leaders in education, under his direct inspiration, 
have been slowly and painfully transforming the false 
pedagogy of the cloister into the true pedagogy of 
out-of-doors. Writers and teachers, schools and uni- 
versities, have been engaged in a halting and irregular 
struggle to transfer education from a metaphysical to 
a physical basis, to lead it away from the habit of 
deductive speculation into one of inductive research. 
This transfer Eabelais made boldly and at once. He 
did not, of course, elaborate the educational ideal of 
to-day, but he plainly marked out the lines upon which 
that ideal is framed. He taught truth and simplicity, 
he ridiculed hypocrisy and formalism, he denounced 
the worship of words, he demanded the study of things, 
he showed the beauty of intellectual health, of moral 
discipline, of real piety. Best of all, he enunciated 
the supreme principle of Nature, which is ordered 
freedom." 

Montaigne, 1 also, in France, was 'equally severe in 
his criticisms on the humanists. He denounced in no 
uncertain terms the methods of introducing Latin to 
beginners and the harsh and severe discipline so com- 
mon in the schools of Europe during the sixteenth 
century. "Education ought to be carried on with a 
severe sweetness," he wrote, "quite contrary to the 
practice of our pedants, who, instead of tempting and 
alluring children to a study of language by apt and 
gentle ways, do, in truth, present nothing before them 
but rods and ferules, horror and cruelty. Away with 
this violence ! Away with this compulsion! There is 
nothing which more completely dulls and degenerates 

1 Montaigne's Education of children. Translated by L. E. Rec- 
tor. New York : D. Appleton & Co., 1899. pp. xriii -f 191. 



12 COMENIUS 

the nature of a bright child." Again: "Our schools 
are houses of correction for imprisoned youths; and 
children are made incorrigible by punishment. Visit 
them when the children are getting their lessons, and 
you will hear nothing but the outcries of boys under 
execution and the thundering noises of their teachers, 
drunk with fury. It is a pernicious way to tempt 
young and timorous souls to love their books while 
wearing a ferocious countenance and with a rod in 
hand." 

Montaigne was equally convinced of the pedagogic 
error of the humanists in regarding classical knowledge 
as synonymous with wisdom. "We may become 
learned from the learning of others," he said, "but we 
never become wise except by our own wisdom. . . . 
We are truly learned from knowing the present, not 
from knowing the past any more than the future. . . . 
Yet we toil only to stuff the memory and leave the 
conscience and understanding void. And like birds 
abroad to forage for grain, bring it home in their beak, 
without tasting it themselves, to feed their young, so 
our pedants go picking knowledge here and there out 
of several authors, and hold it at their tongue's end, 
only to spit it out and distribute it among their pupils." 

Roger Ascham, 1 in the quaint preface of his Schole- 
master, also bears testimony against the harsh disci- 
pline of the sixteenth century. During the great 
plague in London, in 1563, Ascham and some friends 
were dining at Windsor with Sir William Cecil. 
While there he learned that many of the students at 
Eton had run away because of the severe punishments 

1 The scholemaster. By Roger Ascham. Edited by Edward 
Arber. Boston : Willard Small, 1888. pp. 317. 



EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN 16th CENTURY 13 

administered at this famous public school. " Where- 
upon," says Ascham, "Sir William took occasion to 
wish that some discretion were in many schoolmasters 
in using correction than commonly there is, who 
many times punish rather the weakness of nature than 
the fault of the scholar, whereby many scholars that 
might else prove well, be driven to hate learning 
before they know what learning meaneth; and so are 
made willing to forsake their book, and to be willing 
to put to any other kind of living." This incident led 
to the composition of the Scholemaster, which was a 
guide for "the bringing up of youth," in which gentle- 
ness rather than severity is recommended, and "a 
ready way to the Latin tongue, " in which an honest 
effort is made to simplify language teaching and adapt 
it to the tastes and interests of young learners. 

Eichard Mulcaster, 1 another Englishman and human- 
ist of the sixteenth century, questioned seriously the 
wisdom of his associates and contemporaries in 
their exclusion of the mother-tongue from the course 
of study. In his Elementarie he asked: "Is it not 
a marvellous bondage to become servants to one 
tongue, for learning's sake, the most part of our time, 
with loss of most time, whereas we may have the very 
same treasure in our own tongue with the gain of most 
time? our own bearing the joyful title of our liberty 
and freedom, the Latin tongue remembering us of our 
thraldom and bondage. I love Borne, but London 
better ; I favor Italy, but England more : I honor the 
Latin, but I worship the English." Mr. Quick is 
right in maintaining that " it would have been a vast 

1 Positions. By Richard Mulcaster. Edited by Robert Hebert 
Quick. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1888. pp. 309. 



14 COMENIUS 

gain to all Europe if Mulcaster had been followed 
instead of Sturm. He was one of the earliest advo- 
cates of the use of English instead of Latin, and good 
reading and writing in English were to be secured 
before Latin was begun." 

These were some of the voices raised against the 
bookish classical learning of the sixteenth century; 
but it remained for Vives, Bacon, and Eatke to con- 
vince Europe of the insufficiency of the humanistic 
ideal, and for Comenius, the evangelist of modern 
pedagogy, to bring about the necessary reforms. The 
part played by each in the transition from humanism 
to realism, from classical learning and philology to 
modern thought and the natural sciences, will be briefly 
traced in the succeeding chapters of this work. 



CHAPTEE II 

FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 

Traces of the intellectual development of Comenius. Vives a real- 
ist — His early training in Spain and France — Educational activ- 
ity in Belgium and England — Views on the education of women 

— Theory of education — Comparison of Vives and Comenius. 
Bacon the founder of modern realism — Views on the education 
of his day — Attacks medievalism — Study of nature and the 
inductive method — Individual differences among children. 
Ratke — Studies at Hamburg and Rostock — Visits England and 
becomes acquainted with the philosophy of Bacon — His plan of 
education — Its reception by the universities at Jena and Giessen 

— Organization of the schools at Gotha — Call to Sweden — Sum- 
mary of Ratke's views — Harmony of his teachings with those 
of Comenius. Campanella, Andrese, and Bateus — Their influ- 
ence on the life and teachings of Comenius. 

Evert educational reformer owes much, in the way 
of inspiration and suggestion, to his predecessors, and 
of none is this more true than of John Amos Comenius. 
Everywhere in his writings are to be found traces of 
the movement he championed, in the writings of 
Vives, Bacon, Eatke, Bateus, Campanella, and others. 
As Professor Nicholas Murray Butler remarks : " From 
Eatke he learned something of the way in which 
language teaching, the whole curriculum of the time, 
might be reformed ; and from Bateus he derived both 
the title and the plan of his Janua. Campanella sug- 
gested to him the necessity of the direct interrogation 
of nature if knowledge was to progress, and Vives 
emphasized for him from the same point of view the 

15 



16 COMENIUS 

defects of contemporary school practice. But it was 
Bacon's Instauratio Magna that opened his eyes to the 
possibilities of our knowledge of nature and its place 
in the educational scheme." 1 This obligation to his 
predecessors Comenius was the first to recognize. 
And he recognized it often and specifically by his will- 
ing tributes to the help received by him from Vives, 
Bacon, Batke, and others. 

Vives 

"Comenius received his first impulse as a sense- 
realist, " says Baumer, " from the well-known Spanish 
pedagogue John Lewis Vives, who had come out against 
Aristotle and disputation in favor of a Christian mode 
of philosophizing and the silent contemplation of 
nature." "It is better for the pupils to ask, to inves- 
tigate, than to be forever disputing with one another," 
said Vives. "Yet," adds Comenius, "Vives under- 
stood better where the fault was than what was the 
remedy." In the preface to the Janua, Comenius 
quotes Vives among others as opposed to the current 
methods of language teaching. 

The Spanish educator was born a hundred years 
before Comenius, of poor, but noble parentage, When 
fifteen years old he was considered the most brilliant 
pupil in the academy at Valencia. Two years later he 
was matriculated in the University of Paris, where, 
as his biographers tell us, he was surrounded by the 
Dialecticians, whose theology was the most abstruse 
and whose Latin was the most barbarous. This con- 

1 The place of Comenius in the history of education. By Nich- 
olas Murray Butler. Proceedings of the National Educational 
Association for 1892. 



FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 17 

dition of affairs turned the young Spaniard's thoughts 
toward educational reform. He realized in Paris, as 
he had not before, the uselessness of the empty dis- 
putations which occupied so much time in the schools. 

Three years were spent in study at Paris, after 
which Vives travelled through portions of Spain and 
France, and, in 1517, he settled with the Valdura 
family in Bruges and married the daughter of his 
host. Here he wrote his allegory Christi triumphus, 
in which he holds up to ridicule the methods of teach- 
ing in the University of Paris. A year later he was 
installed in the University of Louvain as the instructor 
of the young Cardinal de Croy. While here he wrote 
a history of philosophy; made the acquaintance of 
Erasmus; and opened correspondence with Thomas 
More and other reformers. 

In 1519 he visited Paris with Cardinal de Croy; 
and, in spite of his late criticisms, he was cordially 
received by the university, his scholarship and ability 
now being recorded facts. Two years later De Croy 
died without having made any provision for the sup- 
port of his tutor. Vives began at once a commentary 
on St. Augustine; but his health giving way, he 
returned to Bruges, where, in July, he had a personal 
interview with Thomas More, Wolsey, and others, who 
were in favor with Henry VIII of England. He 
taught at Louvain during the winter semester of 
1522-1523, after which, through the influence of the 
English dignitaries already mentioned, he was called 
to England. 

In what capacity he went to England is hardly 
known. Some say as the tutor of King Henry's 
daughter Mary ; others as a lecturer in the University 



18 COMENIUS 

of Oxford. Certain it is that he gave two lectures at 
Oxford, which were attended by the king and queen, 
and that he received the honorary degree of D.C.L., 
in 1523. In 1526 appeared his treatise on the care of 
the poor, which he dedicated to the municipal council 
of Bruges. It was one of the first scientific treatments 
of pauperism. He maintained that it was incumbent 
upon State, and not upon the Church to care for the 
poor. Buisson says of it, "Its suggestions are as 
attractive as they are wise; and even to-day they 
continue in full force." 

In 1528 he published his pedagogic classic on the 
Christian education of women. The mother, says 
Vives, like Cornelia, should regard her children as 
her most precious jewels. She should nurse her own 
children because of possible physical influences on the 
child. The mother should instruct her girl in all that 
pertains to the household; and early teach her to read. 
She should relate to her stories, not empty fables, but 
such as will instruct and edify her and teach her to 
love virtue and hate vice. The mother should teach 
her daughter that riches, power, praise, titles, and 
beauty are vain and empty things; and that piety, 
virtue, bravery, meekness, and culture are imperish- 
able virtues. Strong discipline in the home is urged. 
Lax discipline, says Vives, makes a man bad, but it 
makes a woman a criminal. Dolls should be banished 
from the nursery because they encourage vanity and 
love of dress. Boys and girls should not be instructed 
together, not even during the earliest years of child- 
hood. But women require to be educated as well as 
men. This work, which presented in stronger terms 
than hitherto the claims of the education of women, 



FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 19 

was dedicated to Catherine of Aragon. It was widely 
republished and had large influence. 

For five years Yives had beeu a distinguished figure 
at the court of Henry VIII, but with the king's appli- 
cation for divorce, in 1528, came a rupture of these 
pleasant relations. In a letter to a friend he says : 
"You must have heard of the troubles between the 
king and the queen, as it is now talked of everywhere. 
I have taken the side of the queen, whose cause has 
seemed to me just, and have defended her by word and 
pen. This offended his Majesty to such degree that I 
was imprisoned for six weeks, and only released upon 
condition that I would never appear in the palace 
again. I then concluded it safest to return home [to 
Bruges]; and, indeed, the queen advised me to in a 
secret letter. Shortly after Cardinal Campeggio was 
sent to Britain to judge the cause. The king was very 
solicitous that the queen appoint counsel to defend 
her side before Campeggio and Wolsey. She, there- 
fore, called me to her aid; but I told her plainly that 
any defence before such a court was useless, and that 
it would be much better to be condemned unheard, 
than with the appearance of defence. The king sought 
only to save appearances with his people, that the 
queen might not appear to have been unjustly treated ; 
but he had little regard for the rest. At this the 
queen was incensed that I did not obey her call instead 
of following my own good judgment, which is worth 
more to me than all the princes of the world together. 
So it has come about that the king regards me as his 
adversary, and the queen regards me as disobedient 
and opinionated; and both of them have withdrawn 
my pension." 



20 COMENIUS 

His closing years were passed at Bruges with his 
wife's family; at Breda with the Duchess of Nassau, 
a Spanish lady who had formerly been his pupil; and 
at Paris, where he gave some courses of lectures. He 
had struggled against a weak constitution all his life, 
and after his return from England other diseases 
developed. He died on May 6, 1540, in his forty- 
eighth year, and was buried in the Church of St. 
Donat at Bruges. 

His most considerable contribution to the philoso- 
phy of education appeared after his return from Eng- 
land. It was entitled De disciplinis; was published in 
three parts, in 1531 ; and was dedicated to the King of 
Portugal. As Dr. Lange remarks, this work -alone 
entitles Vives to large consideration as an educational 
reformer. 

Vives justifies, in the introduction, the position he 
assumes in regard to Aristotle; while he regards the 
Greek as a great philosopher, he declares that the 
world has gained in experience since Aristotle wrote, 
and he sees no reason why his teachings should not be 
set aside if found to be incorrect. He has no doubt 
but that later generations will find theories better 
adapted to their ends than those he himself advocates, 
but he greets as a friend the one who shall point out 
his errors. 

In the first part he treats of the decline of the 
sciences. The causes of this decline he considers two- 
fold: (1) Moral; and here he notes an unwillingness 
to search for truth for truth's sake. Pride is the root 
of this evil. A student in the University of Paris had 
remarked to him, " Sooner than not distinguish myself 
by founding some new doctrine, I would defend one of 



FORERUNNERS OE COMENIUS 21 

whose falsity I was convinced." This moral weakness 
he thought altogether inconsistent with the advance- 
ment of the sciences. (2) Historical and material, 
including as causes the migration of nations by which 
existing orders of civilization have been annihilated; 
the obscurity of ancient manuscripts, requiring more 
time to decipher their meaning than it would take to 
discover from nature their meaning; the ever increas- 
ing use of commentaries in the study of originals, in 
which the diverse opinions of the commentators lead 
farther from the original sense ; the practice of scho- 
lastic disputation which is taught the pupils before 
they know what they are disputing about; and the 
practice of regarding teaching as a trade rather than 
a profession, thus causing many bright minds to select 
other vocations, and to bring to the work incompetent 
and coarse minds. 

The second part treats of the decline of grammar, 
and the third part of the art of teaching, in which he 
gives some most sane directions. Schools should be 
located in the most healthy part of the community. 
They should not be too near commercial centres ; at 
the same time, they should not be too distant from the 
centre of population. As to teachers, they should 
have good academic training; they should be skilled 
in the art of imparting knowledge ; and their morals 
should be such as would furnish examples to their 
pupils. Covetousness and ambition, above all things, 
should be unknown to them. Teachers who have 
ambition and reputation in their minds are thereby 
unfitted for the work of teaching. On this account, 
the state should fix the salaries, and the compensation 
should be the wage of honest men. There should be 



22 COMENIUS 

a school in every community. Before pupils should 
be assigned tasks, teachers should ascertain their 
mental capacities and characteristics. They should 
also be privately tested four times a year; and when 
children are found who possess no taste for study they 
should be dismissed from the school. Corporal pun- 
ishment should seldom be applied, and never to such 
a degree as to humiliate the pupils. Children should 
be given plenty of play time; and hearty, romping 
games are especially recommended. In the matter of 
method, Vives heartily commends the inductive, — 
from particulars to generals, — and he urges such a 
grouping of studies that each new subject studied may 
naturally grow out of the preceding lesson. While he 
strongly advises the study of the natural sciences, he 
is less enthusiastic here than Bacon, fearing, as 
he admits, that a contemplation of nature may prove 
dangerous to those not deeply grounded in faith. 

But Vives was essentially a realist in his doctrines 
of education; and when his views are compared with 
those of Comenius, community of ideas is at once 
apparent. Both would begin education in the home 
and make the mother the first teacher. Both realized 
the need of better organization and classification of 
the schools. Both urged reforms in the matter of 
language teaching. Both considered education a mat- 
ter of state concern, and urged pedagogical training 
for teachers. Both presented the claims of science 
and urged the coordination and correlation of the 
different subjects of study. Both emphasized the value 
of play and the need of physical training. Both advo- 
cated education for all classes of both sexes, and both 
exaggerated the need and importance of the religious 
training of the child. 



FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 23 

Bacon 

" Though there were many before Bacon, and espe- 
cially artists and craftsmen," says Raurner," who lived 
in communion with nature, and who, in manifold ways, 
transfigured and idealized her, and unveiled her glory ; 
and, though their sense for nature was so highly culti- 
vated that they attained to a practical understanding of 
her ways, yet this understanding was at best merely 
instinctive : for it led them to no scientific deductions 
and yielded them no thoughtful and legitimate domin- 
ion over her." 

The founder of modern realism was born in London 
on the 22d of January in the year 1561. When six- 
teen years of age he entered Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, where he studied under Dr. John Whitgift, a 
noted professor of theology, and afterward archbishop 
of Canterbury. He studied diligently the writings of 
Aristotle, but was convinced of their inadequacy. 
Writing of this period he says : " Amid men of sharp 
and strong wits, and abundance of leisure, and small 
variety of reading, their wits being shut up in the 
cells of a few authors, chiefly Aristotle, their dictator, 
as their persons are shut up in the cells of monasteries 
and colleges; and who knowing little history, either 
of nature or time, did out of no great quantity of 
matter, and infinite agitation of wit, spin cobwebs of 
learning, admirable for the fineness of the thread and 
work, but of no substance or profit." 

The checkered career of Bacon is extraneous to his 
writings and may be passed over in silence. As noted 
in the first chapter, the educational institutions of the 
sixteenth century concerned themselves wholly with 



24 COMENIUS 

the acquisition and display of Latin eloquence. 
Grammar was studied with infinite labor and sorrow 
for years that students might acquire correct forms of 
speech; logic that they might express themselves with 
precision; and a minimum of history was taught that 
ancient records might furnish ornate illustrations in 
speaking and writing. 

Erasmus and Melanchthon had disputed this ideal 
of culture, but it remained for Bacon to demolish this 
idol of medievalism. "Forsooth, "he says, "we suffer 
the penalty of our first parents' sin, and yet follow in 
their footsteps. They desired to be like God, and we, 
their posterity, would be so in a higher degree. For 
we create worlds, direct and control nature, and, in 
short, square all things by the measure of our own 
folly, not by the plummet of divine wisdom, nor as we 
find them in reality. I know not whether, for this 
result we are forced to do violence to nature or to our 
own intelligence the most; but it nevertheless remains 
true, that we stamp the seal of our own image upon 
the creatures and works of God, instead of carefully 
searching for, and acknowledging, the seal of the 
Creator manifest in them. Therefore have we lost, 
the second time, and that deservedly, our empire over 
the creatures, yea, when after and notwithstanding 
the fall, there was left to us some title to dominion 
over the unwilling creatures, so that they could be 
subjected and controlled, even this we have lost, in 
great part through our pride, in that we have desired 
to be like God, and to follow the dictates of our own 
reason alone. Now then, if there be any humility in 
the presence of the Creator, if there be any reverence 
for and exaltation of his handiwork, if there be any 



FORERUNNERS OE COMENIUS 25 

charity toward men, any desires to relieve the woes 
and sufferings of humanity, any love for the light of 
truth, and hatred toward the darkness of error, — I 
would beseech men again and again, to dismiss alto- 
gether, or at least for a moment to put away their 
absurd and intractable theories, which give to assump- 
tions the dignity of hypotheses, dispense with experi- 
ment, and turn them away from the works of God. 
Let them with a teachable spirit approach the great 
volume of creation, patiently decipher its secret char- 
acters, and converse with its lofty truths; so shall 
they leave behind the delusive echoes of prejudice, and 
dwell within the perpetual outgoings of divine wis- 
dom. This is that speech and language whose lines 
have gone out into all the earth, and no confusion of 
tongues has ever befallen it. This language we should 
all strive to understand, first condescending, like little 
children, to master its alphabet." 

Instead of training children to interrogate nature 
for themselves, and to interpret the answers to these 
interrogations, instead of going straight to nature her- 
self, the schools are forever teaching what others 
have thought and written on the subject. This pro- 
cedure, according to Bacon, not only displays lack of 
pedagogic sense, but gives evidence of ignorance and 
self-conceit, and inflicts the greatest injury on philoso- 
phy and learning. Such methods of instruction, more- 
over, tend to stifle and interrupt all inquiry. We must, 
says Bacon, "come as new-born children, with open 
and fresh minds, to the observation of nature. For 
it is no less true in this human kingdom of knowledge 
than in God's kingdom of heaven, that no man shall 
enter into it except as he becomes first as a little child." 



26 COMENIUS 

Bacon's notion, as summarized by Kaumer, was that 
"man must put himself again in direct, close, and 
personal contact with nature, and no longer trust to 
the confused, uncertain, and arbitrary accounts and 
descriptions of her historians and would-be inter- 
preters. From a clear and correct observation and 
perception of objects, their qualities, powers, etc., 
the investigator must proceed, step by step, till he 
arrives at laws, and to that degree of insight that will 
enable him to interpret the laws and to analyze the 
processes of nature. To this end Bacon proffers to us 
his new method — the method of induction. With 
the aid of this method we attain to an insight into 
the connection and natural relation of the laws of 
matter, and thus, according to him, we are enabled 
through this knowledge to make nature subservient to 
our will." 

This was, according to Comenius, the true key to the 
human intellect. But he laments that Bacon should 
have given us the key and failed to unlock the door to 
the treasure-house. But Bacon did more than formu- 
late the laws of scientific induction for pedagogic pur- 
poses : he made possible the enrichment of the courses 
of study by the addition of a wide range of school 
studies. His thrusts at the Latin and Greek, as the 
sole exponents of culture, were telling in their effect 
and made possible the recognition of the vernacular 
themes in Comenius' day. "The wisdom of the 
Greeks," he says, "was rhetorical; it expended itself 
upon words, and it had little to do with the search 
after truth." Speaking again of classical culture, he 
says : " These older generations fell short of many of 
our present knowledges; they know but a small part 



FORERUNNERS OE COMENIUS 27 

of the world, and but a brief period of history. We, 
on the contrary, are acquainted with a far greater 
extent of the world, besides having discovered a new 
hemisphere, and we look back and survey long periods 
of history." 

Bacon recognized great individual differences in the 
mental capacities of children, and he urged that these 
differences and special tastes be taken into account by 
the teachers. He says: "The natural bent of the 
individual minds should be so far encouraged that a 
student who shall learn all that is required of him 
may be allowed time in which to pursue a favorite 
study. And, furthermore, it is worth while to con- 
sider, and I think this point has not hitherto received 
the attention which its importance demands, that there 
are two distinct modes of training the mind to a free 
and appropriate use of its faculties. The one begins 
with the easiest, and so proceeds to the more difficult; 
the other, at the outset, presses the pupil with the 
more difficult tasks, and, after he has mastered these, 
turns him to pleasanter and easier ones : for it is one 
method to practise swimming with bladders, and 
another to practise dancing with heavy shoes. It is 
beyond all estimate how a judicious blending of these 
two methods will profit both the mental and the bodily 
powers. And so to select and assign topics of instruc- 
tion as to adapt them to the individual capabilities 
of the pupils, — this, too, requires a special experi- 
ence and judgment. A close observation and an accu- 
rate knowledge of the different natures of the pupils 
are due from teachers to the parents of these pupils, 
that they may choose an occupation in life for their 
sons accordingly. And note further, that not only 



28 COMENIUS 

does every one make more rapid progress in those 
studies to which his nature inclines him, but, again, 
that a natural disinclination, in whatever direction, 
may be overcome by the help of special studies. For 
instance, if a boy has a light, inattentive, inconstant 
spirit, so that he is easily diverted, and his attention 
cannot be readily fixed, he will find advantage in the 
mathematics, in which a demonstration must be com- 
menced anew whenever the thought wanders even for 
a moment." 

These citations will suggest parallels in the aims of 
the two great reformers. Both sought to introduce 
the student to nature at first hand. Both aimed to 
reorganize the sciences into one great body of coordi- 
nated knowledge. Both emphasized the value of the 
inductive method in the development of subjects of 
study. Bacon said : " A good method will solve all 
problems. A cripple on the right path will beat a 
racer on the wrong path." Said Comenius: "The 
secret of education lies in method." Again: "There 
is no difficulty in learning Latin : what we want is a 
good method." 

Rathe 

Although but little more than twenty years the senior 
of Comenius, Ratke's mental development was less 
tardy, so that when the Moravian was a young col- 
legian at Her born, Ratke was enjoying the full flush 
of popularity as an educational reformer. Born at 
Wilster in Holstein (Germany), in 1571, he trained in 
the gymnasium at Hamburg, and later studied philoso- 
phy at Eostock. Later he travelled in England and 
Holland ; studied Hebrew and Arabic, and formulated 



FORERUNNERS OE COMENIUS 29 

the plan of education which made him famous as a 
reformer. He attached great value to his plan and 
expressed great unwillingness to divulge it without 
adequate remuneration. He made known his contem- 
plated reforms at a diet of the German Empire, held 
at Frankfort on the 12th of May, 1612. They were 
threefold: (1) To teach Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, or 
any other language, to young or old in a very short 
time ; (2) to establish schools in which the arts and 
sciences should be taught and extended ; (3) to intro- 
duce a uniform speech throughout the empire, and, at 
the same time, uniform government and religion. He 
proposed to follow the order and course of nature, and 
teach first the mother-tongue, after this Hebrew and 
Greek, as being the tongues of the original text of the 
Bible, and, lastly, Latin. 

Through the influence of the princes (and more espe- 
cially by the encouragement of the Duchess Dorothea 
of Weimar), the plans of Eatke were submitted to a 
commission selected from the faculties of the univer- 
sities at Jena and Giessen, — Professors Grawer, 
Brendel, Walther, and Wolf representing Jena and 
Professors Helwig and Jung, Giessen. The report 
was favorable to Eatke. Professor Helwig, who was 
one of the best linguists of his day, was the spokes- 
man for Giessen, and he accepted Eatke's views with 
great enthusiasm. "By diligent reflection and long 
practice," he says, "Eatke has discovered a valuable 
method by which good arts and languages can be 
taught and studied more easily, quickly, and correctly 
than has been usual in the schools. Eatke's method 
is more practicable in the arts than in the sciences, 
since arts and sciences are by their nature consistent 



30 COMENIUS 

with themselves, while the languages, on the contrary, 
by long use have acquired many inaccuracies." 

Professor Helwig commends especially the method- 
ology in Ratke's plan, and urges that we must con- 
sider not only the knowledge to be imparted, but as 
well the method of imparting knowledge. He says : 
"Nature does much, it is true, but when art assists 
her, her work is much more certain and complete. 
Therefore it is necessary that there should be an espe- 
cial art to which any one who desires to teach can 
adhere, so that he shall not teach by mere opinion and 
guess, nor by native instinct alone, but by the rules of 
his art ; just as he who would speak correctly by the 
rules of grammar, and he who would sing correctly by 
the rules of music. This art of teaching, like the art 
of logic, applies to all languages, arts, and sciences. 
It discusses among other things how to distinguish 
among minds and gifts, so that the quicker may not 
be delayed, and that, on the contrary, those who are 
by nature not so quick may not remain behind; how 
and in what order to arrange the exercises; how to 
assist the understanding; how to strengthen the 
memory; how to sharpen the intellect without vio- 
lence and after the true course of nature. This art of 
teaching, no less than other arts, has its fixed laws 
and rules, founded not only upon the nature and 
understanding of man, but upon the peculiarities of 
languages, arts, and sciences ; and it admits of no ways 
of teaching which are not deduced from sure grounds 
and founded upon proof." The Jena professors were 
no less favorable with regard to this new art of 
teaching. 

The influence of this report on the fame of Eatke 



FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 31 

was far-reaching. The following year (1614) he was 
invited to Angsburg to reform the schools of that city. 
This invitation was the outgrowth of a study of his 
plan by David Hoschel, the principal of St. Anne's 
School, and two other teachers appointed by the city 
to accompany him to Frankfort and aid him in the 
investigation. They reported that Eatke had so far 
explained his method to them that they were satisfied 
and pleased with it; and the invitation to Eatke 
promptly followed. Beyond a few monographs by the 
Augsburg disciples, based on his method, and inspired 
doubtless by his sojourn there, we are altogether with- 
out evidence of the success or failure of the reforms 
at Augsburg. 

Early in 1616, Prince Ludwig of Anhalt-Gotha 
yielded to the persuasions of his sister, the Duchess 
Dorothea of Weimar, and invited Eatke to Gotha to 
organize the schools there in accordance with his 
views. He engaged to organize and supervise the 
schools and to instruct and train the teachers, but he 
bound the prince to exact from each teacher a promise 
not to divulge his method to any one. 

A printing-office was established at Gotha to supply 
the books required by the new order. Fonts of type 
in six languages were imported from Holland, and 
four compositors and two pressmen were brought from 
Eostock and Jena. The people of Gotha were required 
by the prince to send their children to the schools 
organized by Eatke. Two hundred and thirty-one 
boys and two hundred and two girls were enrolled. 

The school was graded into six classes. The mother- 
tongue was taught in the lowest classes; Latin was 
begun in the fourth, and Greek in the sixth. He 



32 COMENIUS 

required that the teacher in the lowest class should be 
a man of kind manners, and that he need know no 
language but the German. This scandalized the whole 
German nation. A schoolmaster ignorant of Latin! 
Critics appeared from the first with the most cogent 
reasons for distrusting the "new methods." But 
Eatke had the confidence of the prince, and all went' 
merrily for a time. The instruction was simplified; 
and, besides the mother-tongue, arithmetic, singing, 
and religion were taught. 

But he encountered numerous obstacles at Gotha: 
the teachers of the town, it would appear, did not 
fully share his views; the town adhered to the 
Befornied Church and Eatke was a Lutheran, — a fact 
which caused no end of trouble ; and the prince was 
not altogether satisfied with the fulfilment of Batke's 
promises of reform. The pastor of the Beformed 
Church of Gotha preferred formal charges of hetero- 
doxy against him, and maintained, besides, that Eatke 
made too little provision for the study of music and 
the catechism; that too much time was given to 
recreation; that the discipline was altogether too 
mild; and that the children were permitted to pass 
from one study to another too rapidly. Singular 
charges, these! And the more singular when one 
recalls the long hours and the harsh discipline of the 
seventeenth century. 

The opposition was strong, and at the end of eigh- 
teen months the Gotha experiment was brought to an 
abrupt close. Eatke was not only dismissed, but was 
imprisoned on the charge that he "had claimed and 
promised more than he knew that he could bring to 
pass." After spending the best of a year in prison, 



FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 33 

he signed a declaration in which he assented to the 
charges. Then the prince released him. He went to 
Magdeburg, where he was well received by the school 
authorities; but the ecclesiastical dignitaries of the 
city were soon at war with him, and he moved on to 
Kudolstadt, where he was cordially received by the 
Princess Anna Sophia, wife of Prince Gunther of 
Swarzburg-Eudolstadt. 

Subsequently Oxenstiern, the chancellor of Sweden, 
sought his services in the reformation of the Swedish 
schools; but instead of the requested interview, he 
sent the chancellor a thick quarto. "I accomplished 
this wearisome labor," says Oxenstiern; "and after I 
had read the whole book through, I found that he had 
not ill displayed the faults of the schools, but his 
remedies did not seem to me adequate." Katke died 
shortly afterward at the age of sixty-four years. 

Ratke's contribution to education was chiefly in the 
matter of methodology. His leading principles were : 
(1) In everything we should follow the order of nature. 
There is a certain natural sequence along which the 
human intelligence moves in the acquisition of knowl- 
edge. This sequence must be studied, and instruction 
must be based on a knowledge of it. (2) One thing 
at a time. Each subject of study should be orderly 
developed and thoroughly dealt with before proceeding 
to the next. (3) There should be frequent repetition. 
It is astonishing what may be accomplished by the 
frequent repetition of one thing. (4) Everything first 
in the mother-tongue. The first thinking should 
always be in the vernacular. Whatever the vocation, 
the pupil should learn to express himself in the 
mother-tongue. After the mother-tongue has been 

D 



34 COMENIUS 

mastered, the other languages may be studied. 
(5) Everything without compulsion. Children can- 
not be whipped into learning or wishing to learn; by 
compulsion and blows they are so disgusted with their 
studies that study becomes hateful to them. More- 
over, it is contrary to nature to flog children for not 
remembering what has been taught them. If they 
had been properly taught they would have remem- 
bered, and blows would have been unnecessary. Chil- 
dren should be taught to love and reverence — not to 
fear their teachers. (6) Nothing should be learned by 
rote. Learning by heart weakens the understanding. 
If a subject has been well developed, and has been 
impressed upon the mind by frequent repetition, the 
memory of it will follow without any pains. Fre- 
quent hours of recreation are advised ; in fact, no two 
lessons should come immediately together. (7) A defi- 
nite method (and a uniform method) for all studies. 
In the languages, arts, and sciences, there must be a 
conformity in the methods of teaching, text-books 
used, and precepts given. The German grammar, for 
instance, must agree with the Hebrew and the Greek 
as far as the idioms of the language will permit. 
(8) The thing itself should first be studied, and then 
whatever explains it. Study first the literature of a 
language and then its grammar. A basis of material 
must first be laid in the mind before rules can be 
applied. He admits that many of the grammars fur- 
nish examples with the rules; but these examples 
"come together from all sorts of authors, like mixed 
fodder in a manger." (9) Everything must be learned 
by experience and examination. Nothing is to be 
taken on authority. It will be recalled that Ratke 



FORERUNNERS OF COMENIUS 35 

visited England after the completion of his studies at 
Bostock; and it is altogether likely that while there 
he became a convert to induction and the philosophy 
of Bacon. 

In most particulars Ratke and Comenius were in 
harmony. Both urged that the study of things should 
precede or be united with the study of words; that 
knowledge should be communicated through appeals 
to the senses; that all linguistic study should begin 
with the mother-tongue; that methods of teaching 
should be in accordance with the laws of nature ; and 
that progress in studies should be based not on 
compulsion, but on the interest aroused in the pupils. 

Campanella, Andrece, and Bateus 

Comenius derived many of his philosophic concepts 
from the Dominican reformer, Thomas Campanella, 
whose writings influenced him powerfully, at least 
during his student years at Herborn and Heidelberg. 
The writings of Campanella convinced him of the 
unwisdom of the study of nature from the works of 
Aristotle. Books, Campanella had declared, are but 
dead copies of life, and are full of error and decep- 
tion. We must ourselves explore nature and write 
down our own thoughts, the living mirror which shows 
the reflection of God's countenance. These protests 
against scholasticism found a responsive chord in the 
thoughts of the young Comenius. 

In the preface to the Prodromus Comenius is unre- 
served in his expression of obligations to his prede- 
cessors. "Who, indeed, should have the first place," 
he says, " but John Valentine Andrese, a man of nimble 



36 COMENIUS 

and clear brain." The conrt preacher of Stuttgart had 
strongly impressed Comenins by his deep love for 
Christian ideals and his warm enthusiasm for their 
realization in practical life, as well as by his humor- 
ous polemics against the dead scholasticism of his day. 
Comenius incorporates in his Great didactic a brief by 
Andrese on "the use of the art of teaching," in which 
he maintains (1) that parents up to this time have 
been uncertain how much to expect from their chil- 
dren; (2) that schoolmasters, the greater number of 
whom have been ignorant of their art, have exhausted 
their energies and worn themselves out in their efforts 
to fulfil their duty; (3) that students should master 
the sciences without difficulty, tedium, or blows, as if 
in sport and in merriment; (4) that schools should 
become places of amusement, houses of delight and 
attraction, and the work so adjusted that students of 
whatever capacity might attain a high standard of 
development; (5) that states should exist for the 
development of the young; (6) that schools should be 
so efficient that the Church may never lack learned 
doctors, and the learned doctors lack suitable hearers ; 
and (7) that the schools may be so reformed that they 
may give a more exact and universal culture of the 
intellect, and that Christian youths may be more fer- 
vently stirred up to vigor of mind and love of heavenly 
things. "Let none, therefore," says Andrese, "with- 
draw his thoughts, desires, strength, and resources 
from such a sacred undertaking. It is inglorious to 
despair of progress and wrong to despise the counsel of 
others." 

The obligation of Comenius to William Bateus, the 
Irish Jesuit, was not great, although he makes free 



FORERUNNERS OE COMENIUS 37 

acknowledgment of the same in the Janua. Indeed, 
the plan of the Janua was well formulated before he 
knew of the existence of the Jesuit father's book. 
He made known the plan of his Janua to some friends, 
who told him that Bateus had already published a 
similar work. He was not content until he had pro- 
cured a copy of the book. " The idea," says Comenius, 
" was better than the execution. Nevertheless, as he 
was the prime inventor, I thankfully acknowledge it, 
nor will I upbraid him for those errors he has com- 
mitted." This willing recognition of his obligation 
to a wide range of educational writers is proof of the 
declaration he often made, " I care not whether I act 
the part of teacher or learner." 



CHAPTER III 

BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE OF COMENIUS: 1592-1628 

Ancestry of Comenius — Attends the village school at Strasnitz — 
Studies Latin in the gymnasium at Prerau — Character of the 
Latin schools of his day — Enters the college at Herborn — Studies 
theology and philosophy — Inspired by the teachings of Alsted — 
Makes the acquaintance of the writings of Ratke — Continues his 
studies at Heidelberg — Begins his career as a teacher at Prerau 
— Ordained as a clergyman — Installed as pastor and school 
superintendent at Fulneck — Persecution. 

Many of the facts concerning the early life of John 
Amos Comenius are shrouded in obscurity. It is 
certain, however, that he was born in the village of 
Mvnitz in Moravia (now a province of Austria) on 
the 28th day of March, in the year 1592. Nivnitz 
then, as now, was little more than a country market 
town and settled quite largely by members of the 
religious organization known as Moravian Brethren. 
The father and mother of Comenius, Martin and Anna 
Komensky, were influential members of the brother- 
hood, who had settled here some years previous with 
other followers of John Hus, the Bohemian reformer 
and martyr. The tradition that Martin Komensky 
was a miller by trade does not seem to be well authen- 
ticated. Besides John Amos, three daughters were 
born to Martin and Anna Komensky, — Ludmilla, 
Susanna, and Margaret, — but the three girls died in 
early childhood. 

38 



BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE OF COMENIUS 39 

Martin Komensky died in 1604, 1 and his wife sur- 
vived him less than a year. Left an orphan at the 
early age of twelve years, Comenius was intrusted to 
the care and training of an improvident aunt, who 
soon made way with his inheritance. In this, as 
in the neglect of his school training, the incom- 
petence of the foster parent is clearly apparent. For 
something more than four years the lad attended 
the village school at Strasnitz. But, as he himself 
tells us, the curriculum was narrow and the teaching 
poor. While here Comenius formed the acquaintance 
of a schoolfellow named Nicholas Drabik, through 
whose prophetic visions he was so ignominiously led 
astray in his later life, and so bitterly reproached by 
his contemporaries. "It was a strange irony of fate," 
remarks Mr. Keatinge, "that a wanderer like 
Comenius, when only eleven years old and in his 
native land, should commence the intimacy that was 
to embitter his old age in Amsterdam. " But, as Ben- 
ham notes, the fact that the matter was so soon for- 
gotten shows that the character of Comenius received 
no indelible stain by the unfortunate alliance, even 
though he excited the ridicule and disrespect, and 
even the contempt, of his contemporaries. 

At the advanced age of sixteen years, he was ini- 
tiated into the mysteries of classical learning in the 
Latin school at Prerau, where he studied for two 
years. A fairly accurate notion of his studies during 
this period may be gained from a glance at the course 
of study in a contemporary Latin school herewith 

1 1 am aware that Comenius says that his father died in 1602 ; hut 
the evidence which Vrbka has adduced seems to me conclusive that 
the senior Komensky died two years later. 



40 COMENIUS 

reproduced in translation from the Bohemian. 1 The 
schedule of hours in the second grade of this school 
was as follows : In the morning, during the first hour, 
repetition of grammar lesson from memory and expla- 
nation of the next day's grammar lesson. During the 
second hour, the dialogues of Castalio ; and the third 
hour, the recitation of Castalio' s dialogues in the 
Bohemian, and the grammatical analysis of the words 
and conversation of the lesson. In the afternoon, 
during the first hour, writing and singing ; the second 
hour, explanation of the writings of Cicero according 
to Sturm's edition, and grammatical analysis; and the 
third hour, exercises in words and sayings. This was 
the programme for Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and 
Saturdays. On Wednesdays there was but one lesson 
in the morning and one in the afternoon. In the 
morning the catechism was recited; in addition, imi- 
tative exercises for the formation of style. In the 
afternoon, the writing of short words and a recapitu- 
lation of the week's lessons. 

The programme for the third grade was as follows : 
In the forenoon of Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, 
and Fridays : — 

First hour. — Repetition of Latin rules in the 
mother-tongue. 

Second hour. — Exposition of the conversations of 
John Lewis Vives. 

Third hour. — Repetition of the above, and Bohe- 
mian exercises from the text. 

In the afternoon of the same days, first hour, writ- 
ing and singing ; second hour, Greek grammar and the 

1 RukovM SJcolsivi Obecneho. By Karel Toubenek and Kare] 
Vorovka. Prague, 1892. Translated by Miss Clara Vostrovsky. 



BOYHOOD AND EAELY LIFE OF COMENIUS 41 

collected writings of John Sturm; and third hour, 
exposition of Greek proverbs from the New Testa- 
ment, together with grammatical analysis of the same. 
This class had for its forenoon lesson on Wednesdays 
the catechism and exercises in the Bohemian, and in 
the afternoon singing and writing. In the summer the 
more industrious pupils were excused from the lessons on 
Wednesday afternoons. 

One period on Saturday was devoted to a weekly 
review; and on Sunday morning a chapter was read 
from the New Testament, the same explained in Greek 
(to all grades above the second), and all the students 
attended church. In the afternoon there was preach- 
ing again and more reading from the New Testament. 

Such we may suppose to have been the character of 
his studies at Prerau during the two years from 1608 
to 1610. Because of his maturity, he appreciated 
most keenly the faults of current humanistic methods 
of teaching. As one of his biographers remarks: 
" The defects of this early education were the seeds 
from which sprang the whole of his didactic efforts. 
Considerably older than his schoolfellows, he was able 
to criticise the methods and speedily arrive at the con- 
clusion that the lack of progress was due more to the 
inefficiency of the teachers than to the idleness of 
their pupils. From this time onward, he began to 
devise new methods of class instruction and better 
schemes of study. From the vivid memory of the hor- 
rors through which he had passed, of the thousand and 
one rules that had to be learned by rote before they 
were understood, of the monotonous study of grammar, 
only diversified by the maddening effort to translate 
Latin authors without the assistance of suitable die- 



42 COMENIUS 

tionaries or commentaries, sprang that intense sym- 
pathy with beginners which characterizes his whole 
life and gives practical worth to every precept that he 
enunciated." 

After two years in the Latin school at Prerau, he 
entered the college at Herborn on the 30th of March, 
1611. The University of Prague was at this time in 
the hands of the Utraquists, whose unfriendly attitude 
toward the Moravian Brethren led to the selection of 
a German university for his higher course of instruc- 
tion. He had determined to qualify for the ministry, 
and the institution at Herborn at this time afforded 
unusual opportunities for the study of theology. 
Doubtless another factor in the selection of Herborn 
was the fact that John Henry Alsted, one of the most 
distinguished theological and philosophical professors 
of the day, was lecturing there, and aspiring youths 
of the temperament of Comenius naturally gravitated 
toward this centre of fresh thought. Although but 
four years older than Comenius, Alsted was the most 
commanding figure in the academic circles of Europe 
at this time. He had travelled extensively; had made 
the acquaintance of most of the learned men in Europe 
worth knowing; and had advocated views of education 
which were new and startling. 

For twenty-seven years Herborn had enjoyed unprec- 
edented academic prosperity. Opportunities for the 
study of education were unexcelled; for, connected 
with the college, there was a preparatory department 
which served as a laboratory for the study of peda- 
gogic problems, in which, for example, the lower classes 
were instructed in the mother-tongue — a procedure 
that was regarded as ultra-heterodox at this time. 



BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE OF COMENIUS 43 

CoHienius was most helped by the instruction of the 
distinguished theologian and philosopher, Professor 
John Henry Alsted. The teachings of Alsted were 
of a character calculated to deepen the convictions of 
the young student from Moravia, for the Herborn pro- 
fessor taught among other things — as is indicated by 
his Encyclopaedia of the sciences, published a few years 
later — the following: (1) Not more than one thing 
should be taught at a time; (2) not more than one 
book should be used on one subject, and not more than 
one subject should be taught on one day; (3) every- 
thing should be taught through the medium of what is 
more familiar; (4) all superfluity should be avoided; 

(5) all study should be mapped out in fixed periods ; 

(6) all rules should be as short as possible; (7) every- 
thing should be taught without severity, though disci- 
pline must be maintained; (8) corporal punishment 
should be reserved for moral offences, and never in- 
flicted for lack of industry; (9) authority should not 
be allowed to prejudice the mind against the facts 
gleaned from experience, nor should custom or precon- 
ceived opinion prevail ; (10) the construction of a new 
language should first be explained in the vernacular; 
(11) no language should be taught by means of gram- 
mar; (12) grammatical terms should be the same in all 
languages. "The teacher," said Alsted, "should be 
a skilled reader of character, so that he may be able 
to classify the dispositions of his pupils. Unless he 
pays great attention to differences of disposition, he 
will but waste all the efforts he expends in teaching." 

Another professor of philosophy at Herborn at the 
time was Heinrich Gutberleth, who was likewise 
deeply interested in pedagogy and whose lectures 



44 COMENIUS 

seem to have influenced Comenius, with special refer- 
ence to his advocacy of the study of the physical 
sciences. In theology he heard lectures by Piscator, 
Hermannus, and Pasor. Since 1530 the schools of 
Nassau had been marked by great improvement, and 
this improvement was in no small measure due to the 
intelligent interest of the professors of theology at 
Herborn in the schools of the province. Hermannus, 
with whom Comenius studied practical theology, was 
especially active in school reform. 

It was during his student life at Herborn that 
Comenius became acquainted with Ratke's plan of 
instruction, then much discussed at university centres, 
and especially at Jena, Giessen, and Herborn. How- 
ever much he may have been stimulated to educational 
reform by his own belated classical training and by 
the pedagogic character of the work at Herborn, the 
writings of Ratke, as he himself tells us, played the 
largest part in making him an educational reformer. 
While at Herborn he gave special attention to the 
Bohemian language, and planned a dictionary which 
was never published. 

Comenius left Herborn in the spring of 1613; and 
after a few weeks' sojourn at Amsterdam he repaired 
to Heidelberg, where he matriculated as a student of 
philosophy and theology on the 13th of June. Beyond 
the fact that he purchased a manuscript of Copernicus, 
and that at the end of a year, his funds becoming 
exhausted, he was forced to make the return journey 
to Prague on foot, nothing is known of his life at 
Heidelberg. 

Back in his native country after these years of study 
and travel in Germany, he was still too young by two 



BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE OF COMENIUS 45 

years for ordination in the brotherhood. Meanwhile 
he turned his attention to education, and engaged him- 
self as a teacher in the elementary school at Prerau 
conducted by the Moravian Brethren. This experi- 
ence brought him face to face with problems of method- 
ology and discipline, and gave him an opportunity to 
apply some of the theories he had formulated while a 
student at Herborn. His attention was at once called 
to the ineffective methods employed in teaching Latin, 
for the remedy of which he prepared an easy Latin 
book for beginners. 

His ordination took place at Zerwick on the 29th 
day of April, 1616, although he continued teaching at 
Prerau for two years longer, when he was called to 
the pastorate of the flourishing Moravian church at 
Fulneck. At the same time, or shortly thereafter, he 
was elected superintendent of the schools of the town. 
In this twofold capacity he ministered to the spiritual 
and educational needs of Fulneck for three years, and 
passed the only tranquil and happy years of his life. 
But the year that ushered in this prosperous career 
witnessed the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. 

In 1621 Fulneck was sacked by the Spaniards, and 
the conquering force gave itself up to destruction that 
baffles description. Houses were pillaged, including 
the residence of Comenius, and he lost all his prop- 
erty, including his library and the manuscripts of 
several educational treatises, on the composition of 
which he had spent years of labor. 

From this time on, the Moravian Brethren were 
exposed to the most relentless persecutions. Many 
were executed, and others took refuge in caves in the 
wilderness or on the secluded estates of wealthy sym- 



46 COMENIUS 

pathizers. For three years Comenius found an asylum 
on the estate of Karl von Zerotin. The death of his 
wife and children (for he had married while at Ful- 
neck) added to the afflictions of his exile; but he 
sought relief from his sorrow in literary work — the 
composition of a metrical translation of the Psalms, an 
allegorical description of life, and the construction of 
a highly meritorious map of Moravia. 

The persecution of the enemies rendered conceal- 
ment no longer possible; and, although Karl von 
Zerotin was held in high regard by Ferdinand II, in 
1624 the imperial mandate was issued which banished 
the evangelical clergy from the country. For a time 
Comenius and several of his brethren secreted them- 
selves from their merciless pursuers on the Bohemian 
mountains, in the citadel of Baron Sadowsky, near 
Slaupna. But the edict of 1627 put an end to further 
protection of the Moravian clergy by the nobles ; and 
in January, 1628, Comenius and many of his compa- 
triots, including his late protector, Baron Sadowsky, 
set out for Poland. On the mountain frontier which 
separates Moravia from Silesia, one gets an excellent 
view of Fulneck and the surrounding country. Here 
the band of exiles knelt and Comenius offered up an 
impassioned prayer for his beloved Moravia and Bohe- 
mia. This was his last sad look on his devoted coun- 
try. He never afterward beheld the land of his 
fathers, but for more than half a century he lived an 
exile in foreign regions. Well might he, in his old 
age, exclaim: "My whole life was merely the visit of 
a guest; I had no fatherland." 



CHAPTER IV 

CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER: 1628-1656 

Flight to Poland— Appointed director of the gymnasium at Lissa— 
Reforms introduced — Literary projects — Need of a patron — 
Call to England — Friendship with Hartlib — Interest of the Eng- 
lish Parliament — Discontent with existing educational institu- 
tions — Lewis de Geer, his Dutch patron — Call to Sweden — 
Interview with Oxenstiern — Located at Elbing — Reform of the 
Swedish schools — Return to Poland — Consecration as senior 
bishop — Consequences of the treaty of Westphalia — Ecclesiasti- 
cal ministrations — Call to Hungary — Reform of the schools at 
Saros-Patak — Plan of a pansophic school — Return to Lissa — 
The city burned — Flight of Comenius from Poland. 

After the flight from Bohemia, Comenius and his 
compatriots found a refuge at Lissa, Poland, with 
Count Raphael, a powerful prince of the faith of the 
Moravian Brethren, to whose estate hundreds of per- 
secuted Bohemians had already fled. Twelve years 
were passed in Lissa, during which time Comenius 
was actively engaged in educational reform. Besides 
the composition of three of his most important books 
— the Janua, in 1631, the Great didactic, probably in 
1632, and the School of infancy, in 1633 — he engaged 
actively in the work of teaching. A secondary school 
of acknowledged repute had been maintained in Lissa 
by the Moravian Brethren since 1555, and here 
Comenius found the opportunity of putting into prac- 
tice s'ome of his educational theories. It is apparent, 
however, from his writings, that he read widely before 

47 



48 COMENIUS 

undertaking the reorganization of the gymnasium at 
Lissa, and that he sought aid from all the writers on 
education, both ancient and modern. His corre- 
spondents at this period included such distinguished 
names as Lubin, Andreas, Bitter, Vogel, Ratke, Frey, 
Mencel, Hartlib, Evenius, Johnstone, and Mochinger. 
To these distinguished contemporaries he expresses 
his dissatisfaction with current educational practices, 
and seeks guidance in the reform movement he has 
instituted in Poland. 

" When our people attend school for the sake of the 
learned languages, what do they bring with them on 
returning home? " he asks. " What beyond that which 
they obtain there — the tinkling of human eloquence, 
the love of disputation, and the knowledge that puff eth 
up instead of the charity that buildeth up. Moreover, 
some acquire corrupt morals; some, a desire to make 
themselves agreeable by a show of external civility; 
some, habits of intemperance and a distaste or hatred 
of firm discipline. And yet these very men were 
trained for the lights of the Church and the pillars of 
the State. that, instead of such an education, we 
had retained the simplicity of childhood. that we 
might bring back the ancient custom of the Spartans, 
who, more than all the other Greeks, were intent upon 
the rational education of their youth." 

A noteworthy feature of his work as a reformer at 
Lissa consisted in a careful grading of the schools, and 
the formulation of a course of study for the succes- 
sive grades. The guiding principle in this schemati- 
zation of school work was that each grade should pave 
the way for the one next higher, — the elements of all 
subjects of study being comparatively simple, these 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 49 

elements should be gradually introduced and elabo- 
rated from grade to grade. These reforms were not 
only far-reaching, they were revolutionary; and they 
made possible the modern graded school. 

Civilized Europe did not long remain in ignorance 
of these reforms. They were discussed with approval 
in England, Germany, France, and Sweden; and sev- 
eral foreign governments sought his services in the 
work of educational reform. Sweden, in 1638, ten- 
dered him a remunerative position and unlimited 
opportunities of reforming the schools of the kingdom 
along the lines laid down in his writings. He replied 
that he was willing to recommend a competent person 
to undertake the work, but that he was not in position 
to sever his relations with the Moravian Church in 
Poland and to leave unfinished some important 
educational writings. 

His own poverty, as well as that of his brethren, 
made him realize keenly the need of a wealthy patron 
to aid him in the realization of his educational ideals. 
"The vastness of the labors I contemplate," he wrote, 
"demands that I should have a wealthy patron, 
whether we look at their extent, or at the necessity of 
securing assistants, or at the expense generally. I 
propose to render the study of science, philosophy, 
and theology more accessible to all parties, and of 
greater usefulness in the regulation of human affairs 
than has hitherto been the case. In order to do this, 
two kinds of books are necessary — (1) for philosophi- 
cal research and (2) for elementary training. 

"Books of the first class would primarily have refer- 
ence to the Latin language, and of this class I would 
adopt eight : — 



50 COMENIUS 

"1. The Vestibulum, or introduction to the Latin 
tongue. 

" 2. The Janua, or gate of the Latin tongue. 

" 3. The Palace, or essentials of the Latin language. 

" 4. A dictionary giving the meaning of the Latin 
words in the mother-tongue. 

"5. A dictionary giving all the words of the native 
language in Latin, and more especially supplying 
phrases of the former language with corresponding 
phrases in the latter. 

"6. A Latin dictionary explaining all the peculiar 
idioms of the language. 

"7. An elementary grammar containing all the 
declensions and conjugations, and to be used in 
connection with the Vestibulum. 

" 8. A more comprehensive grammar, to be used in 
connection with the Janua. 

" The books to be used in connection with element- 
ary training are three : — 

"1. PansopJiia, or universal wisdom. This book 
should comprise the sum total of human wisdom, and 
be so expressed as to meet the requirements of both 
the present and future ages. The method to be fol- 
lowed in such a book would be to reduce it to certain 
fundamental principles, beyond the compass of which 
no part of human knowledge can reach. Such first 
principles are God, the world, and common sense. 

"2. Panhistoria, or universal history. This work 
must comprehend the most vital facts of all ages. 
Universal history is a most excellent handmaid of the 
understanding, searching into the causes of all things, 
and inquiring into the laws of cause and effect. In- 
struction in history must be graded. It might be ar- 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 51 

ranged in six classes — Bible history, natural history, 
history of inventions, history of morals, history of the 
various religious rites, and general history. 

"3. General dogmatics. These have to treat of 
the different theories taken by human ingenuity, the 
false as well as the true, thereby preventing a relapse 
into vain speculations and dangerous errors. 

" One man is not able to accomplish an undertaking 
of such magnitude. There ought to be some clever 
linguists, perhaps three well versed in philosophy, an 
able historian, and a man thoroughly acquainted with 
Biblical literature. As regards the philological labors, 
I have already met with an excellent assistant in Mr. 
Wechner. Nor are clever coadjutors wanting for the 
Pansophia, who have not only offered the treasures of 
their libraries, but who have offered themselves in 
their cooperation in this work. Among these my 
friend Hartlib far excels. I do not know his equal 
in the extent of his knowledge, his acuteness of rea- 
soning, his zeal to become useful to the welfare of 
mankind, his fervent love for a philosophy unmixed 
with errors and fanciful speculations, and his self- 
denial in order to further the objects in view." 

Such a patron, however, was not at once forthcoming, 
although it would appear from his letters that Count 
Bohulslaw of Lissa, whom he styles " the chief in the 
kingdom of Poland," was of some pecuniary assistance 
to him at this time in the development of his theories. 

The wide publication of his writings aroused a keen 
interest in his reforms, and especially in England. 
Samuel Hartlib, who corresponded extensively with 
the learned men of Europe, had already translated 
into English several of the educational writings of 



52 COMENIUS 

Comenius, and in various other ways had interested 
the English public in the work of the Moravian 
reformer. 

The keen personal interest of Hartlib in the work 
of Comenius had important temporary consequences 
on the direction of the reformer's activities during the 
next few years. Hartlib at this time was the most 
interesting figure in English educational history. 
"Everybody knew him," says Professor Masson. 1 
"He was a foreigner by birth, being the son of a 
Polish merchant who had left Poland when the coun- 
try fell under Jesuit rule, and had settled in Elbing 
in Prussia, in very good circumstances. Twice mar- 
ried before to Polish ladies, this merchant had married 
in Prussia for his third wife the daughter of a wealthy 
English merchant at Dantzig; and thus our Hartlib, 
their son, though Prussian born and with Polish connec- 
tions, could reckon himself half English. The date 
of his birth was probably about the beginning of the 
century. He appears to have first visited England in 
or about 1628, and from that time, though he made fre- 
quent journeys to the continent, London had been his 
headquarters. Here, with a residence in the city, he 
carried on business as a merchant, with extensive 
foreign correspondence, and very respectable family 
connections. But it did not require such family con- 
nections to make Hartlib at home in English society. 
The character of the man would have made him at 
home anywhere. He was one of those persons now 
styled philanthropists, or friends of progress, who 
take an interest in every question or project of their 

1 The life of John Milton. By David Masson. Vol. III. Lon- 
don, 1873. 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 53 

time promising social improvement, have always some 
irons in the fire, are constantly forming committees, 
or writing letters to persons of influence, and live 
altogether for the public. By the common consent of 
all who have explored the intellectual and social his- 
tory of England in the seventeenth century, he is one 
of the most interesting and memorable figures of that 
whole period. He is interesting both for what he did 
himself and on account of the number and intimacy of 
his contacts with other interesting people." 

Through Hartlib's influence the English Parliament 
invited Comenius to England. This was in the sum- 
mer of 1641. Comenius himself may be permitted 
to tell how all this came about : " After my Pansophia 
had been published and dispersed through the various 
countries of Europe, many learned men approved of 
the object and plan of the work, but despaired of its 
ever being accomplished by one man alone, and there- 
fore advised that a college of learned men should be 
instituted to carry it into effect. Mr. Samuel Hart- 
lib, who had forwarded its publication in England, 
labored earnestly in this matter, and endeavored by 
every possible means to bring together for this pur- 
pose a number of intellectual men. And at length, 
having found one or two, he invited me with many 
strong entreaties. As my friends consented to my 
departure, I proceeded to London, and arrived there 
on the autumnal equinox (September the 22d) in the 
year 1641, and then learned that I had been called 
thither by an order of the Parliament. But, in con- 
sequence of the king having gone to Scotland, the Par- 
liament had been dismissed for three months, and, 
consequently, I had to winter in London." 



54 COMENIUS 

His friends meanwhile examined with more detail 
his educational views and encouraged him to elaborate 
his views in a tract, which he named Via lucis, or the 
way of light. This, as he himself says, was "a na- 
tional disquisition as to the manner in which wisdom 
— the intellectual law of minds — may at length 
toward the evening of the world be felicitously dif- 
fused through all minds in all nations." 

Around Comenius Hartlib soon collected a group of 
thoughtful men interested in the Moravian reformer's 
views ; and together we may suppose they discussed 
at length the larger educational problems already 
formulated by Comenius in his published writings. 
The group included, besides Hartlib, Mr. John Pell, 
a mathematician of acknowledged repute;. John Mil- 
ton, the poet and educational writer; Theodor Haak, 
the expositor of philosophic systems ; John Wilkins, 
the agricultural enthusiast; John Durie, the advocate 
of evangelical unity; Thomas Farnaby, the school- 
master at Sevenoaks and one of the English editors 
of Comenius' Janua; and probably the American 
Winthrop, later governor of Connecticut, who was 
wintering in London. He was delighted with London 
and the people he met. Writing to friends in Lissa, 
he says: "I live as a friend among friends; though 
not so many visit me as would if they knew that I 
could speak English, or if they had more confidence 
in their own Latin." 

When Parliament finally convened "and my pres- 
ence being known," writes Comenius, "I was com- 
manded to wait until after some important business 
having been transacted, a commission should be issued 
to certain wise and learned Englishmen to hear me 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 55 

and be informed of my plan. As an earnest, moreover, 
of their intentions, they communicated to me their 
purpose to assign to us a college with revenues, 
whence some men of learning and industry selected 
from any nation might be honorably sustained either 
for a certain number of years or in perpetuity. The 
Savoy in London, and beyond London, Winchester, 
and again near the city, Chelsea, were severally men- 
tioned, and inventories of the latter and its revenues 
were communicated to me; so that nothing seemed 
more certain than that the designs of Lord Bacon to 
open a universal college of all nations, devoted solely 
to the advancement of the sciences, were now in way 
of being carried into effect." 

Comenius had assumed that when the call to Eng- 
land came to him at Lissa, it simply represented a 
private movement backed by Hartlib and other influ- 
ential Englishmen; and he expresses himself in terms 
of delighted surprise upon arriving in London to find 
that he had been summoned thither by the Parliament 
of the realm. The parliamentary sanction of this 
summons has never been corroborated. Professor 
Masson made the attempt, but was unable to find in 
the Lords' or Commons' Journal for the years 1641 
and 1642 any traces of communication between 
Comenius and the Parliament of which he speaks. 
He admits that there may be such corroborative evi- 
dence, since the indexes for these years are incom- 
plete. There are, however, no good and sufficient 
reasons for doubting the word of Comenius in this 
matter. 

There are traces at this period of parliamentary dis- 
satisfaction with current English education, and more 



56 COMENIUS 

particularly with university education in England. 
Professor Masson thus states the matter : " There had 
for some time been a tradition of dissatisfaction with 
the existing state of the universities and the great 
public schools. In especial, Bacon's complaints and 
suggestions in the second book of his De Augmentis 
had sunk into thoughtful minds. That the universities, 
by persistence in old and outworn methods, were not 
in full accord with the demands and needs of the age; 
that their aims were too professional and particular, 
and not sufficiently scientific and general; that the 
order of studies in them was bad, and some of the 
studies barren; that there ought to be a bold direction 
of their endowments and apparatus in the line of 
experimental knowledge, so as to extract from nature 
new secrets and sciences for which humanity was 
panting; that, moreover, there ought to be more fra- 
ternity and correspondence among the universities of 
Europe and some organization of their labors, with a 
view to mutual illumination and collective advance- 
ment : — all these Verulamian speculations, first sub- 
mitted to King James, were lying here and there in 
English intellects in watch for an opportunity." 

But the time was not yet come for the reform move- 
ment in English education. Ireland was in a state of 
commotion; two hundred thousand Englishmen had 
been massacred; 1 the sudden departure of the king 
from London on the 10th of January, 1642, and the 
prospect of a prolonged civil war convinced Comeniusv 
that it would be useless to tarry longer in England. 
He informed his friends of his disappointment of his 
plans. Hartlib was hopeful and urged delay, but a 
1 Professor Masson. 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 57 

call to Sweden, made four years previous, was renewed 
at this time, and he left London on the 10th of June, 
in the year 1642. 

Lewis de Geer, a rich Dutch merchant and phi- 
lanthropist, residing at JNordkoping, Sweden, had 
offered to render him financial aid in working out his 
educational reforms in Sweden. But de Geer's 
notions of reform differed widely from those of the 
English friends. He was less interested in universal 
research, the founding of pansophic colleges, and the 
results of original investigation than Hartlib and the 
Englishmen. What he wanted was better school- 
books for the children, rational methods of teaching 
for the teachers, and some intelligent grading of the 
schools. The English friends were satisfied with the 
broad generalities of pansophic learning, the unreal- 
ized dreams that were so very near the reformer's 
heart; the Dutch merchant would be satisfied with 
nothing less than concrete applications of theories. 
There is no doubt that Comenius would have preferred 
lingering in England or going to some place where his 
cherished pansophic schemes might be given a hear- 
ing. But he was human and had organic needs, and 
he knew that the liberal remuneration offered him by 
de Geer would avert poverty even though the realiza- 
tion of his pure and exalted pansophic dream was 
deferred. 

" In the history of great renunciations, " says Mr. 
Keatinge, 1 "surely none is stranger than this. We 
have a man little past the prime of life, his brain 

1 The Great didactic of John Amos Comenius. With introduc- 
tions, biographical and historical. By M. W. Keatinge. London, 
1896. pp.468. 



58 COMENIUS 

teeming with magnificent, if somewhat visionary, 
plans for social reform, a mighty power in the com- 
munity that shared his religious ideas, and an object 
of interest even to those who may have shrugged their 
shoulders at his occasional want of balance. Suddenly 
he flings his projects to the winds, consigns his darling 
plans to the dustheap of unrealizable ideas, and 
retires to a small seaside town — not to meditate, not 
to give definite form to latent conceptions or to evolve 
new ones, not to make preparation for the dazzling 
of intellectual Europe with an octavo of fantastic 
philanthropy or of philosophic mysticism, but- — to 
write school-books for the little boys in Swedish 
schools." 

Comenius went from London to Nordkoping, where 
he spent some days in conference with his new patron, 
Lewis de Geer. He was not to receive a stipulated 
salary, but to be paid certain sums upon the comple- 
tion of definite texts, the number and character of the 
same to be determined by the educational authorities 
at Stockholm, whither de Geer directed Comenius to 
go for further orders. In Stockholm he met with 
Lord Axel Oxenstiern, grand chancellor of the king- 
dom of Sweden, and Dr. John Skyte, professor of 
canon and civil law (as well as chancellor) in the Uni- 
versity of Upsala. Of this conference Comenius says : 
" These two exercised me in debate for four days, and 
chiefly Oxenstiern, that eagle of the north. He 
inquired into the foundations of both my schemes, the 
didactic and the pansophic, so searchingly that it was 
unlike anything that had been done before by any of 
my learned critics. In the first two days he examined 
the didactics, with, at length, this conclusion: 'From 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 59 

an early age/ said he, 'I perceived that our method 
of studies generally in use is a harsh and crude one, 
but where the root of the trouble was I couldn't find 
out. At length having been sent by my king [Gus- 
tavus Adolphus], of glorious memory, as ambassador 
into Germany, I conversed on the subject with various 
learned men. And when I heard that Wolfgang Eatke 
was toiling a.t a reformed method, I had no rest of mind 
until I had got that gentleman into my presence ; but, 
instead of a talk on the subject, he offered me a big 
volume in quarto to read. I swallowed that trouble; 
and, having gone through the book, I noted that he 
detected not badly the maladies of the schools; but 
the remedies he proposed did not seem to me sufficient. 
Yours, Mr. Comenius, rest on firmer foundations.' " * 
The consultation with Oxenstiern and Skyte con- 
tinued four days, at the conclusion of which they ren- 
dered their decision on his various theories. With 
reference to his pansophic notions, they saw little of 
immediate utility to the welfare of mankind. But his 
didactics they regarded with favor. They urged him 
to give his attention to the reformation of teaching 
and the preparation of suitable text-books. While 
somewhat chagrined at this unsympathetic attitude 
toward his pansophic theories, and a little surprised 
to learn that de Geer should be of the same mind, he 
was forced to acquiesce, not, however, without the ear- 
nest solicitations of Hartlib and his English friends 
not to forsake the cherished pansophic principles. 2 

1 Mittheilungen iiber Wolfgang Ratichius. Von Agathon 
Niemeyer. Halle, 1840. 

2 In a letter to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut, Hartlib la- 
ments that Comenius should continually allow himself to be diverted 
from his pansophic works. 



60 COMENIUS 

The town of Elbing, on the Baltic Sea, in West 
Prussia, was designated by de Geer as a suitable 
residence for Comenius during the time that he should 
be in the service of the Swedish educational depart- 
ment. Here he settled, with his family and the 
assistants de Geer had permitted him to employ at 
the patron's expense, in October, 1642. The chief 
task imposed upon him was the compilation of a 
series of text-books for use in elementary and sec- 
ondary schools. But progress was slow; the Swedes 
became impatient, and de Geer grew restive. In con- 
sequence, the relations with his patron soon became 
strained, and continued so during most of the Elbing 
period. In reply to a complaint from de Geer, 
Comenius wrote him in September, 1643 : " I compose 
books and do not merely copy those of others. Our 
proposed work is not merely a book, but a real treas- 
ure for the aiding of whose production my patron will 
assuredly have no cause for regret." He admits that 
he has been diverted from the completion of a work on 
language teaching by a philosophic treatise which he 
considers of far greater importance than the details 
of methodology. 

In addition to the philosophic studies, in which de 
Geer and the Swedes had little or no interest, Come- 
nius dissipated his energies in other ways. When 
it became generally known that he had located in 
Elbing, the wealthy patrons of the local high school 
petitioned the town council to secure him to give 
weekly lectures to the pupils. In other ways he iden- 
tified himself with local interests, which diverted his 
time from his assigned tasks. Moreover, his connec- 
tion with the Moravian Brethren compelled him to 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 61 

make frequent trips to Poland to attend ecclesiastical 
conventions and minister to the needs of the scattered 
brethren. De Geer's patience must have been sorely 
tried, for he sent to Elbing, with annoying frequency, 
to inquire concerning the progress of the work. In 
reply, Comenius begged his patron have patience; he 
explained the difficult nature of his labors, and assured 
him that he was making as much progress as was con- 
sistent with the nature of his undertaking. 

Toward the close of 1646 he went to Sweden and 
made a personal report to his patron, covering the four 
years of his employment. A government committee 
was appointed to review his work; its report was most 
favorable to Comenius; and he was urged to get the 
work in shape for immediate publication. He had 
prepared during this time, in spite of distractions, a 
work on language teaching, which treated of its nature, 
function, and the laws to be observed in language 
teaching; a lexicon based on these laws; and a series 
of graded reading books. 

At the death of Justinus, the senior bishop of the 
Moravian Brethren in 1648, Comenius was elected his 
successor. His new duties made his removal to Lissa 
necessary, and he took with him the unfinished 
treatises for the Swedes, and sent them to de Geer as 
rapidly as he was able to complete them. It caused 
him no pang of sorrow to sever his connection with 
the Dutch merchant and the Swedes. For he was 
isolated at Elbing; his labors were uncongenial, and 
the remuneration which he received was small. It is 
apparent from his letters, subsequently written, that 
it was not merely the Dutchman's gold that held him 
to tasks so arduous and uncongenial. He hoped by 



62 COMENIUS 

this connection to secure the moral support of the 
Swedes in removing from the Moravian Brethren the 
ban which exiled them from their beloved fatherland. 

The treaty of Westphalia, however, shattered this 
hope. There was not a single stipulation in favor 
of the exiled brethren. The promises Sweden had 
made to Comenius in this matter were disregarded. 
In vain he implored Oxenstiern not to forsake his 
people. "My people have aided your arms with their 
weapons, the unceasing offerings of their tears and 
supplications to God; and now, when they see your 
success and may rejoice in the hope for a more favor- 
able issue of affairs, they are troubled with dread 
apprehension lest they should be forsaken." Later he 
wrote him : " Of what use is it to us, who are now de- 
prived of every hope of peace, to have assisted you with 
our tears in obtaining victory ; when, although it lay 
within your power to release us from our prison-house, 
you surrender us anew into the hands of our oppress- 
ors? Of what avail now all those holy evangelical 
alliances formed by our ancestors, and consecrated 
with their sacred martyr-blood?" 1 But these impor- 
tunities were of no avail; for, while equal privileges 
were granted to the Reformed, Lutheran, and Catholic 
churches in Germany, in Bohemia, and Moravia, the 
ritual of the latter alone was established. It was a 
severe blow to Comenius, as well as to the whole 
brotherhood of the Moravian Church. 

The years 1648 to 1650 were passed in ministrations 
to the dispersed brethren; 2 he was especially conscien- 

1 The correspondence between Comenius and Oxenstiern over 
the treaty of Westphalia is given by Gindely, tfber des Comenius 
Leben und Wirksamkeit in der Fremde. Vienna, 1855. 

2 For a full account of these labors see Gindely's Geschichte der 
Bohmischen Briider. Prague, 1857-8. 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 63 

tious in the discharge of the duties of his episcopal 
office; he established more intimate relations between 
the Polish and Hungarian branches of the Moravian 
churches; he sought and secured important financial 
aid for the brotherhood in England, Holland, and 
Sweden; he secured positions as teachers for many of 
his exiled countrymen; and induced the University 
of Oxford to create stipends for Bohemian students. 
Gindely remarks that at this period there were few 
European countries in which the proteges of Comenius 
could not be found in the capacity of private tutors, 
public school-teachers, artists, or clergymen. 

The impoverished condition of the Moravian Church 
caused Comenius no little concern, and induced him to 
look with some favor on the numerous calls to impor- 
tant educational posts which came to him from foreign 
countries. That from the widow of Prince Rakoczy 
and her son Sigismund was especially tempting. They 
wanted him to come to Transylvania, Hungary, and 
reform the school system. A liberal salary was offered, 
together with complete facilities for the organization 
of a school system in accordance with his own views 
— including a printing establishment for the publica- 
tion of required books. It was further stipulated that 
he might bring with him ten or a dozen Bohemian 
youths to be educated at the expense of the prince and 
his mother. The scattered members of the Moravian 
Church in Hungary, in the belief that the presence of 
the bishop in that country would unify the interests 
of the brotherhood, also urged him to accept the Tran- 
sylvanian call, at the same time petitioning the gen- 
eral synod to relieve Comenius of his clerical functions 
at Lissa for a few years. 



64 COMENIUS 

The Church granted the petition, and Comenius 
settled in Saros-Patak, in May, 1650. He at once 
drew up a sketch of a seven-grade school, which he 
published a year later under the title Plan of a pan- 
sophic school. "In scope and breadth of view," 
remarks a modern historian, "the scheme was centu- 
ries in advance of its time, while many of the sugges- 
tions which it contained are but imperfect]y carried 
into effect at the present day." 

The Plan is a detailed course of study with specific 
directions for the application of the course for the use 
of teachers. In these directions he explains the great 
danger of overworking the children; and to avoid this, 
a rest-pause of a half-hour is provided after each 
hour's instruction for free, spontaneous play. After 
each meal a full hour's rest is granted. The pupils 
are to have eight hours of sleep ; they are granted a 
half -holiday on Sundays and Wednesdays, with fort- 
night vacations at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun- 
tide, and a month's vacation in the summer. This 
gave a school year of forty-two weeks, with thirty 
hours for school work in each week. The forenoon 
instruction was as follows: From 6 to 7 o'clock, 
religious instruction, including hymns, prayers, and 
Bible readings. From 7.30 to 8.30, theoretical expo- 
sition of the new subject-matter of the day's lesson; 
and from 9 to 10, a practical treatment and review of 
the same. There was music (and mathematics) in 
the afternoon from 1 to 2; history from 2.30 to 3.30; 
and composition, with exercises in style, from 4 to 5. 

The Plan requires that the seven grades of the 
school meet in separate rooms, and that a teacher be 
provided for each grade. In each class, the text-books 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 65 

must be adapted to the capacities of the children. The 
Vestibulum is the lowest class. Over the door of this 
room is the motto, "Let no one enter who cannot 
read." The room is so decorated that the pictures 
illustrate the subjects taught in this grade; and, by 
means of these illustrations, the senses are trained. 
The pupils are taught short maxims containing the 
most important rules of conduct, a few common Latin 
words, the elements of arithmetic, the scales in music, 
and some short hymns and prayers. Writing and 
drawing are also taught, and special attention is given 
to the games of the children. 

The Janual is the second class. The motto over 
the class-room door of this grade is, " Let no one enter 
who is ignorant of mathematics." Provided the more 
common objects mentioned in the Janua cannot be 
readily obtained, pictures of these objects are hung on 
the wall. The text-books used are, besides the Janua, 
the Latin vernacular dictionary and the Janual gram- 
mar. In composition, the pupils are exercised in the 
structure of phrases, sentences, and periods; in reli- 
gion, they learn the catechism ; in mathematics, addi- 
tion and subtraction and plane figures in geometry. 
There are more advanced exercises in music; and, as 
in the preceding grade, the teachers are urged to 
encourage the plays and games of the children. 

The Atrial is the third class. Its motto is, " Let no 
one enter who cannot speak." Here Bible readings, 
in abridged form and suited to the intelligence of the 
children, are begun. The text-book is the Atrium, 
together with a grammar of eloquence and a Latin- 
Latin dictionary. In arithmetic, the pupils master 
multiplication and division, and in geometry, solid 



66 COMENIUS 

figures. The musical instruction includes harmony 
and the rudiments of Latin verse. Famous deeds in 
Biblical narrative furnish the basis of the historic 
instruction. In composition there are exercises in 
style, consisting of paraphrasing and the transposition 
of sentences. Before the pupils are permitted to pass 
from this grade they must be able to read the Latin 
authors readily and to converse in the Latin fluently. 

The Philosophical is the fourth class, with the 
motto, " Let no one who is ignorant of history enter 
here." The walls are decorated with pictures illus- 
trative of arithmetic, geometry, and physics, and con- 
nected with this class-room are a chemical laboratory 
and a dissecting-room. The religious instruction 
includes hymns, Psalms, an epitome of the New Tes- 
tament, and a life of Christ. The text-book is called 
the Palace of wisdom; in it the genesis of natural phe- 
nomena are described. In mathematics, the pupils 
learn the rules of proportion; they begin the study of 
trigonometry; also statics, and instruction on musical 
instruments. Greek is begun, and the pupils study 
natural history through Pliny and iElian. Comenius 
mentions that he does not consider Greek a difficult 
study; and he thinks it need cause the pupils no 
alarm, since an exhaustive knowledge of Greek is not 
required, and the difficulties of the study will be 
largely overcome by the use of rational methods of 
teaching. 

The fifth class is the Logical. Over the door is the 
inscription, "Let no one enter who is ignorant of 
natural philosophy," and the walls are covered with 
the rules of logic. The pupils have a Bible manual 
and a class-book on problems in philosophy. The 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 67 

problems include a survey of things that have been 
and may be discovered by man ; a formal logic explain- 
ing the processes of reasoning, and a repertory of such 
philosophical problems as present themselves to the 
human mind. In arithmetic, the rules of partnership 
and allegation are studied; in geometry, mensuration 
of heights and distances and plane surfaces ; in geog- 
raphy, a description of the earth; in astronomy, an 
account of the heavens; in history, a survey of 
mechanical inventions. For the formation of a liter- 
ary style, such historians as Curtius, Csesar, and Jus- 
tin are read. The study of Greek is continued, and 
Isocrates and Plutarch are recommended for reading. 
Dramatic performances are introduced in the fifth 
class. Grammar, logic, and metaphysics are repre- 
sented in conflict, but a reconciliation is finally effected 
through study. 

The sixth is the Political class. Its motto, "Let 
no one enter who cannot reason." Sallust, Cicero, 
Virgil, and Horace are read for style; provision is 
made for verse writing; attention is given to geog- 
raphy and the parts of astronomy dealing with the 
planets and the laws of the eclipses; the Bible is read 
through ; more advanced topics in arithmetic and geom- 
etry are taken up ; the special class-book studied deals 
with human society and the laws of economics; in 
Greek the pupils read from Thucydides and Hesiod. 
Dramatic performances are continued, the degeneration 
and moral downfall of Solomon being rendered. 

The seventh and last grade of the course is the 
Philosophic. Its motto is, "Let no one enter who 
is irreligious." The instruction is of an essentially 
theological character. On the walls are inscribed 



68 COMENIUS 

numerous mystic symbols illustrative of the hidden 
wisdom of the Holy Scriptures. The most devotional 
Psalms and church hymns are used in the school exer- 
cises. There are readings from the Scriptures, the 
works of the most inspired theologians and martyrs, 
and a resume of Christian beliefs, duties, and aspira- 
tions, all written in the phraseology of the Bible. 
The text-book of the grade is ultra-religious in char- 
acter. It includes (1) an account of the earthly and 
heavenly revelations of God; (2) a commentary for 
Scriptural reading; and (3) a detailed account of the 
mysteries of salvation. In arithmetic, the sacred and 
mystic numbers that occur in the Scriptures ; in archi- 
tecture, the sacred structures as exemplified by Noah's 
ark, the tabernacle, and the Temple; in history, the 
general history of the Church; and in ancient language, 
Hebrew takes the place of Greek — this, that the stu- 
dents maybe able to read and understand the Scriptures 
in the original text. Oratory is studied that those 
who become preachers may know how to address a 
congregation, and that those who engage in politics 
may know how to reason with their hearers. 

Such is a condensed survey of the course of study 
which Comenius devised for the schools at Saros- 
Patak; and in no small degree his reputation as a 
reformer rests upon this piece of work. For the 
Saros-Patak Plan became a model for educators in 
many lands, and the progenitor of a long line of graded 
schemes of instruction which constitute such an essen- 
tial feature of the educational economy of to-day. Not 
only were subjects of study graded in accordance with 
the laws of the development of child-mind, but text- 
books were graded as well. Moreover, the scheme 



CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 69 

made necessary the employment of teachers who com- 
prehended the character of the work, and, more par- 
ticularly, those with some appreciation of the natural 
history of the child and the causes which condition its 
growth. Little as Comenius understood psychology, 
at least in the modern use of that term, he was alive 
to the fact that in childhood the senses are keenest, 
and that the line of least resistance in the acquisition 
of new impressions is through (1) objects, (2) pictures, 
and (3) interesting verbal descriptions in the mother- 
tongue. 

His labors at Saros-Patak terminated at the close of 
the fourth year, during which time the first three 
grades of the Plan were organized. All contemporary 
evidence confirms the success of the scheme. Although 
so marked a departure from traditional educational 
practices, it succeeded to a degree that must have 
been surprising even to Comenius himself. The fact 
that the teachers in the schools .were trained under 
Comenius at Lissa did much, doubtless, to remove 
otherwise possible frictions. 

But careful gradation was not the only marked 
reform carried out at Saros-Patak during this period. 
Pictures were introduced as aids in teaching, and the 
first child's picture book, the first of a long line of 
books so popular in our own day, was written. This 
was the famous Orbis pictus, to be discussed in a 
subsequent chapter. 

Comenius returned to Lissa in 1654, to resume his 
ecclesiastical labors. But his sojourn was brief; for, 
with the invasion of Poland by the Swedes, came the 
fall and conflagration of the city. Comenius escaped, 
"almost in a state of nudity," to use his own words. 



70 COMENIUS 

He had not only lost his property and his library in 
the conflagration, bnt he had sustained a yet greater 
loss in the burning of his numerous manuscripts, and, 
more important (to him) than all the others, his entire 
pansophic work, on the composition of which he had 
labored so arduously for many years. Writing to 
Montanus, he says, "The loss of this work I shall 
cease to lament only when I cease to breathe." He 
escaped from Lissa to Silesia, where he found refuge 
for a time in the home of a nobleman. He shortly 
afterward pushed on to Frankfort, but not feeling 
secure here he moved to Hamburg, where for two 
months he was prostrated by a severe illness. 



CHAPTER V 

CLOSING YEARS: 1656-1670 

Flight to Amsterdam — Reception by Lawrence de Geer — Religious 
freedom in Holland — Publication of the complete edition of his 
writings — Other educational activities — The "One thing need- 
ful" — Death at Amsterdam and burial at Naarden — Family- 
history of Comenius — Alleged call to the presidency of Harvard 
College — Portraits — Personal characteristics. 

During his last year's residence at Saros-Patak, 
Comenius had sustained a great loss in the death of 
his friend and former patron, Lewis de Geer. In a 
funeral oration which he composed, he characterized 
his benefactor as "a man pious toward God, just 
toward men, merciful to the distressed, and meritori- 
ously great and illustrious among all men." The rich 
Dutch merchant bequeathed his estates to his son, 
Lawrence de Geer of Amsterdam; and not only his 
estates, but also his deep interest in the welfare of the 
Moravian reformer. 

Learning of the severe illness of Comenius, Lawrence 
de Geer wrote him to leave Hamburg and come directly 
to Amsterdam, where all the needs of his closing years 
would be provided. The younger de Geer, it would 
seem, had not only a real and profound affection for 
the aged Comenius, but also a keen and intelligent 
interest in all his schemes for educational reform. 

Amsterdam proved, indeed, a haven of rest to the 
weary wanderer. At this time the city enjoyed greater 

71 



72 COMENIUS 

religious freedom than perhaps any other city in 
Europe. Says Benham : " Comenius found himself in 
the midst of a community then enjoying the largest 
amount of religious toleration to be found anywhere in 
Europe, and with it a great diversity of religious 
opinions. Unitarians expelled from their own Coun- 
tries here united themselves to the friends of specu- 
lative philosophy among the Remonstrants and 
Arminians; and the philosophy of Descartes here 
found admirers even among the members of the 
Reformed Church. The truly evangelical Comenius 
had become known to many through his writings, 
which, together with the influence of his patron's son, 
Lawrence de Geer, who continued his father's benevo- 
lence, induced rich merchants to intrust him with the 
education of their sons; so that, with the additions 
accruing from his literary labors, Comenius found a 
supply of food and raiment, and was thereby content." 

In spite of his advanced age, these closing years of 
his life at Amsterdam were busy ones; for besides 
ministering to the needs of the scattered and disheart- 
ened ecclesiastics of the Moravian Brethren, he en- 
gaged somewhat in private teaching, and saw through 
the press a complete edition of his educational writ- 
ings. It was a magnificent volume of more than a 
thousand pages, and was printed by Christopher 
Cunard and Gabriel a Roy under the title All the 
didactical works of J. A. Comenius. 

The publication of this handsome folio, containing 
all his educational writings, was made possible by the 
generosity of Lawrence de Geer. The first part of 
the folio, written between 1627 and 1642, contains 
(1) a brief narration of the circumstances which led 



CLOSING YEAKS 73 

the author to write these studies; (2) the Great 
didactic, showing the method of teaching all things ; 
(3) the School of infancy, being an essay on the edu- 
cation of youth during the first six years; (4) an 
account of a six-class vernacular school; (5) the 
Janua; (6) the Vestibulum; (7) David Vechner's JfodeZ 
of a temple of Latinity ; (8) a didactic dissertation on 
the quadripartite study of the Latin language ; .(9) the 
circle of all the sciences; (10) various criticisms on 
the same; (11) explanations of attempts at pansophy. 
The second part of the folio, written between 1642 
and 1650, contains (1) new reasons for continuing to 
devote attention to didactic studies ; (2) new methods 
of studying languages, built upon didactic foundations ; 

(3) vestibule of the Latin language adapted to the 
laws of the most recent methods of language teaching; 

(4) new gate of the Latin language exhibiting the 
structure of things and words in their natural order; 

(5) a Latin and German introductory lexicon explain- 
ing a multitude of derived words; (6) a grammar of 
the Latin and vernacular, with short commentaries; 

(7) treatise on the Latin language of the Atrium; 

(8) certain opinions of the learned on these new views 
of language teaching. 

The third part of the work, written between 1650 
and 1654, contains (1) a brief account of his call to 
Hungary; (2) a sketch of the seven-class pansophic 
school; (3) an oration on the culture of innate capaci- 
ties; (4) an oration on books as the primary instru- 
ments in the cultivation of innate capacities ; (5) on 
the obstacles to the acquisition of encyclopaedic culture 
and some means of removing these obstacles; (6) a 
short and pleasant way of learning to read and under- 



74 COMENIUS 

stand the Latin authors ; (7) on scholastic erudition ; 
(8) on driving idleness from the schools ; (9) laws for 
a well-regulated school; (10) the Orbis pictus; (11) on 
scholastic play; (12) valedictory oration delivered on 
the occasion of the completion of his labors at Saros- 
Patak; (13) funeral oration on the life and character 
of Lewis de G-eer. 

The fourth part of the work represents the years 
from 1654 to 1657. It contains (1) an account of the 
author's didactic studies; (2) a little boy to little 
boys, or all things to all ; (3) apology for the Latinity 
of Comenius; (4) the art of wisely reviewing one's 
own opinions ; (5) exits from scholastic labyrinths into 
the open plain; (6) the formation of a Latin college; 
(7) the living printing-press, or the art of impressing 
wisdom compendiously, copiously, and elegantly, not 
on paper, but on the mind; (8) the best condition of 
the mind; (9) a devout commendation of the study of 
wisdom. 

In addition to his literary labors, he gave much time 
to the administration of church affairs ; for Lissa had 
risen from her ashes and was more prosperous than 
before the war. Here congregated again many adhe- 
rents of the Moravian brotherhood, and the college was 
rebuilt and resumed its beneficent pedagogic influ- 
ence. From this centre the Moravian influence 
spread anew to many parts of Europe. England, 
Prussia, and other Protestant countries were generous 
in their contributions toward the restoration of Mora- 
vian churches. All this money was sent to Comenius 
at Amsterdam, and by him apportioned to the scat- 
tered brethren. He received thirty thousand dollars 
from England alone during the years 1658 and 1659; 



CLOSING YEARS 75 

the only stipulation made in the disposition of the 
money was that a portion of it should be used for the 
printing of Polish and Bohemian Bibles. The last 
years of his life were occupied almost wholly in such 
ministrations. 

He published in 1668 his swan song, the One thing 
needful. This is his farewell address to the world. 
It delineates in a forceful yet modest way his aspira- 
tions for educational reform, gives expression of the 
deep faith which sustained him during the long years 
of his weary pilgrimage, and burns with enthusiastic 
zeal for the welfare of mankind — the burning passion 
of his life. He was well prepared at the advanced 
age of seventy-six years to sum up the experience 
of a long and afflicted life. 

A few citations from this touching bit of reminis- 
cence will hint at the motives which actuated him in 
his life-work as an educational reformer. " I thank 
God that I have been all my life a man of aspirations ; 
and although He has brought me into many labyrinths, 
yet He has so protected me that either I have soon 
worked my way out of them, or He has brought me by 
His own hand to the enjoyment of holy rest. For the 
desire after good, if it is always in the heart, is a 
living stream that flows from God, the fountain of all 
good. The blame is ours if we do not follow the 
stream to its source or to its overflow into the sea, 
where there is fulness and satiety of good." 

"One of my chief employments has been the 
improvement of schools, which I undertook and con- 
tinued for many years from the desire to deliver the 
youth in the schools from the labyrinth in which they 
are entangled. Some have held this business foreign 



76 COMENIUS 

to a theologian, as if Christ had not connected together 
and given to his beloved disciple Peter at the same 
time the two commands, 'Feed my sheep' and 'Feed 
my lambs.' I thank Christ for inspiring me with 
such affection toward his lambs, and for regulating my 
exertions in the form of educational works. I. trust 
that when the winter of indifference has passed that 
my endeavors will bring forth some fruit." 

"My life here was not my native country, but a 
pilgrimage ; my home was ever changing, and I found 
nowhere an abiding resting place. But now I see my 
heavenly country near at hand, to whose gates my 
Saviour has gone before me to prepare the way. After 
years of wandering and straying from the direction of 
my journey, delayed by a thousand extraneous diver- 
sions, I am at last within the bounds of the promised 
land." 

The rest and peace and glory which he so hopefully 
anticipated came to him at Amsterdam on the 15th of 
November, in the year 1670. His remains were con- 
veyed to Naarden, a small town on the Zuyder Zee, 
twelve miles east of Amsterdam, where they were 
interred in the French Reformed Church, on the 22d 
of November. The figure 8 was the only epitaph 
placed on his tomb. More than a century afterward 
the church was transformed into a military barracks, 
and for many years the date of his death, the church 
in which he was buried, and the grave inclosing his 
remains were unknown. But in 1871 Mr. de Roper, 
a lawyer residing in Naarden, found among his father's 
papers the church register, the sexton's account book, 
and other documents relating to the old French 
Eeformed Church. After the figure 8, in the church 



CLOSING YEARS 77 

register, was this entry : " John Amos Comenius, the 
famous author of the Janua Linguarum; interred the 
22d of November, 1670." A diligent search was 
instituted, and the grave was found. An aged woman 
residing in Naarden recalled the location of the French 
Eeformed Church as the present site of the barracks. 
By permission of the commanding officer, an examina- 
tion was made and the tombstone marked 8 was found. 
The remains were subsequently removed to a little 
park in Naarden, where there was erected to his 
memory, in 1892, by friends of education in Europe 
and America, a handsome monument. This consists 
of a pyramid of rough stones with two white marble 
slabs containing gold-furrowed inscriptions in Latin, 
Dutch, and Czech (Bohemian) : " A grateful posterity 
to the memory of John Amos Comenius, born at 
Nivnitz on the 28th of March, 1592 ; died at Amster- 
dam on the 15th of November, 1670 ; buried at Naar- 
den on the 22d of November, 1670. He fought a 
good fight." A room in the town hall at Naarden has 
been set aside as a permanent Comenius museum, 
where will be found a collection of his portraits, sets 
of the different editions of his writings, and the old 
stone slab containing the figure 8. 

The present work being an educational rather than 
a personal life of Comenius, no reference has thus far 
been made to his family life. It may be noted briefly 
that he married, in 1624, Elizabeth Cyrrill, with 
whom he had five children, a son (Daniel) and four 
daughters. Elizabeth died in 1648 and he married 
again on the 17th of May, 1649, Elizabeth Gainsowa, 
with whom he appears to have had no children. A 
third marriage is mentioned by some of his biog- 



78 COMENIUS 

raphers, but the statement lacks corroboration. One 
daughter, Elizabeth, married Peter Figulus Jablonsky, 
who was bishop of the Church from November, 1662, 
until his death, January the 12th, 1670. Their son 
Daniel Ernst Jablonsky was consecrated a bishop of 
the Polish branch of the Moravian Church at Lissa 
March the 10th, 1699. He served the Church until 
his death, May the 25th, 1741. 

An account of the life of Comenius would be incom- 
plete without some reference to his alleged call to 
the presidency of Harvard College. This rests upon 
an unconfirmed statement by Cotton Mather. In his 
Magnalia 1 he says: "Mr. Henry Dunster continued 
the Praesident of Harvard-College until his unhappy 
Entanglement in the Snares of Anabaptism fill'd the 
Overseers with uneasie Fears, lest the Students by his 
means should come to be Ensnared: Which Uneasi- 
ness was at length so signified unto him, that on 
October 24, 1654, he presented unto the Overseers, 
an Instrument under his Hands, wherein he Resigned 
his Presidentship and they accepted his Eesignation. 
That brave Old Man Johannes Amos Commenius, the 
Eame of whose Worth has been Trumpetted as far as 
more than Three Languages (whereof every one is 
Endebted unto his Janua) could carry it, was agreed 
withall, by our Mr. Winthrop in his Travels through 
the Low Countries to come over into New England 
and Illuminate this College and Country in the Quality 
of a President. But the Solicitations of the Swedish 

1 Magnalia Christi Americana, or the ecclesiastical history of 
New England. By the Reverend and Learned Cotton Mather and 
Pastor of the North Church in Boston, New England. London, 1702. 
Book IV, p. 128. 



CLOSING YEARS 79 

Ambassador, diverting him another way, that Incom- 
parable Moravian became not an American." 

The following evidence makes improbable this 
call : — 

1. Some years ago the writer asked Professor Paul 
H. Hanus to ascertain for him if the records of Har- 
vard College corroborated Mather's statement. After 
examining the proceedings of the overseers and all 
other records of the college during its early history, 
he reported that he could not find the slightest cor- 
roboration of Mather's statement, and that he seriously 
doubted its accuracy. 

2. The historians of the college — Peirce, Quincy, 
and Eliot — do not allude to the matter. And Presi- 
dent Josiah Quincy, 1 in his complete and standard 
history of the institution, refers to the "loose and 
exaggerated terms in which Mather and Johnson, and 
other writers of that period, speak of the early dona- 
tions to the college, and the obscurity, and not to say 
confusion, in which they appear in the first records of 
the seminary." 

3. Careful examination has been made of the 
numerous lives of Comenius printed in the German 
language, as well as those printed in the Czech ; and, 
although less noteworthy distinctions are recorded, 
there is no mention of a call to Harvard College or 
America. 

4. In the Journals of Governor John Winthrop of 
Massachusetts, there are no allusions to Comenius. 
Governor Winthrop died in 1649 ; and it was not until 
1653 that President Dunster fell " into the briers of 

1 The history of Harvard university. By Josiah Quincy. Bos- 
ton, 1840. 2 vols. 



80 COMENIUS 

Antpsedo-baptism," when he bore "public testimony 
in the church at Cambridge against the administration 
of baptism to any infant whatsoever." And the his- 
torians of the college report that up to this time 
(1653) Dunster's administration had been singularly 
satisfactory, so that there could have been no thought 
of providing his successor before the death of Governor 
Winthrop. Mather is either in error or he does not 
refer to Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts. He 
may refer to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut, 
the eldest son of the Massachusetts governor, although 
evidence is wanting to show that the Connecticut 
governor had anything to do with the management of 
Harvard College. Young Winthrop was in England 
from August the 3d, 1641, until the early part of 1643. 
It will be recalled that Comenius spent the winter of 
1641-1642 in London, and the fact that both knew 
Hartlib most intimately would suggest that they must 
have met. In a letter which Hartlib wrote to Winthrop 
after the latter's return to America, he says, "Mr. 
Comenius is continually diverted by particular con- 
troversies of Socinians and others from his main 
Pansophical Worke." 1 

5. Mather is clearly in error in regard to the date 
of the call of Comenius to Sweden. The negotiations 
were begun in 1641 and were completed in August of 
the next year, so that the " solicitations of the Swed- 
ish Ambassador diverting him another way" took 
place more than twelve years before the beginning of 

1 Correspondence of Hartlib, HaaTc, Oldenburg, and others of the 
founders of the Royal Society xoith Governor Winthrop of Connect- 
icut, 1661-1672. With an introduction and notes by Robert C. Win- 
throp. Boston, 1878. 



CLOSING YEARS 81 

the troubles at Cambridge which led to the resignation 
of Dunster. 

With so many flaws in Mather's statement, and the 
absence of corroborative evidence, it seems altogether 
improbable that Comenius was ever called to the 
presidency of Harvard College. 1 

In closing, brief mention may be made of his most 
dominant physical and personal characteristics. 
Several excellent portraits of Comenius are in exist- 
ence, the best perhaps being by Hollar and Glover. 
From these it is apparent that he was a man of 
imposing figure, with high forehead, long chin, and 
soft, pathetic eyes. It is not difficult to read into 
his sad, expressive countenance the force of the 
expression in his last published utterance, "My 
whole life was merely the visit of a guest; I had no 
fatherland." 

There is no conflicting evidence on the personal life 
of the reformer; but rather unanimous agreement on 
the sweetness and beauty of his character. Says 
Palacky: "In his intercourse with others, Comenius 
was in an extraordinary degree friendly, conciliatory, 
and humble; always ready to serve his neighbor and 
sacrifice himself. His writings, as well as his walk 
and conversation, show the depth of his feeling, his 
goodness, his uprightness, and his fear of God. He 
never cast back upon his opponents what they meted 
out to him. He never condemned, no matter how 

1 For further discussion of the question see my article, "Was 
Comenius called to the presidency of Harvard ? " in the Educational 
Review, November, 1896, Vol. XII, pp. 378-382, and the article by 
Mr. James H. Blodgett in the same Review for November, 1898, Vol. 
XVI, pp. 390-393 ; also the closing chapter in Professor Hanus' Educa- 
tional aims and educational values (New York, 1899), pp. 206-211. 

a 



82 COMENIUS 

great the injustice which he was made to suffer. At 
all times, with fullest resignation, whether joy or 
sorrow was his portion, he honored and praised the 
Lord." Eaumer says of him: "Comenius is a grand 
and venerable figure of sorrow. Wandering, perse- 
cuted, and homeless during the terrible and desolating 
Thirty Years' War, he never despaired, but, with 
enduring and faithful truth, labored unceasingly to 
prepare youth by a better education for a better future. 
His unfailing aspirations lifted up in a large part of 
Europe many good men prostrated ' by the terrors of 
the times and inspired them with the hope that by 
pious and wise systems of education there might be 
reared up a race of men more pleasing to God." Well 
might Herder say : " Comenius was a noble priest of 
humanity, whose single end and aim in life was the 
welfare of all mankind." 



CHAPTER VI 

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 

The Great didactic — Conditions under which produced — Aim of 
the book. Purpose of education — Man's craving for knowledge 
— Youth the time for training — Private instruction undesirable 

— Education for girls as well as boys — Uniform methods. Edu- 
cation according to nature — How nature teaches — Selection and 
adaptation of materials — Organization of pupils into classes — 
Correlation of studies. Methods of instruction — Science — Arts 

— Language — Morals — Religion. Types of educational institu- 
tions — The mother's school — School of the mother-tongue — 
Latin school — University. School discipline — Character and 
purpose of discipline — Corporal punishment only in cases of 
moral perversity. 

The Great Didactic 

Most comprehensive of all of the educational writ- 
ings of Comenius is the Great didactic. It was 
planned in 1628, while yet in the full possession of 
his vigor, before misfortune had hampered his useful- 
ness and persecution had made him a wanderer. 
Written originally in the Czech, it was translated into 
the Latin and published at Amsterdam in 1657. The 
original Czech manuscript was discovered at Lissa in 
1841, and presented to the museum at Prague; but 
the Austrian censors of the press forbade its publica- 
tion because Comenius was a Bohemian exile (!). 
Through the exertions of the museum authorities, how- 
ever, it was allowed to be printed in 1849. Professor 
Laurie gave English readers a summary of the Great 

83 



84 COMENIUS 

didactic in his Life and educational works of John 
Amos Comenius (London, 1883) ; but the first complete 
translation was made by Mr. M. W. Keatinge of 
Edinburgh in 1896. 

The full title is : The great didactic setting forth the 
whole art of teaching all things to all men ; or a certain 
inducement to found such schools in all parishes, towns, 
and milages of every Christian kingdom that the entire 
youth of both sexes, none being excepted, shall quickly, 
pleasantly, and thoroughly become learned in the sciences, 
pure in morals, trained in piety, and in this manner in- 
structed in all things necessary for the present and future 
life, in which, with respect to everything that is suggested, 
its fundamental principles are set forth from the essential 
nature of the matter, its truth is proved by examples, from 
the severed mechanical arts its order is clearly set forth in 
years, months, days, and hours ; and finally an easy and 
sure method is shown by which it can be pleasantly 
brought into existence. 

The purpose of the Great didactic, as announced by 
Comenius in the preface, is to seek and find a method 
of instruction by which teachers may teach less, but 
learners may learn more; schools may be the scene of 
less noise, aversion, and useless labor, but of more 
leisure, enjoyment, and solid progress; the Christian 
community have less darkness, perplexity, and dis- 
sension, but more light, peace, and rest. He prom- 
ises in his "greeting" an "art of teaching all things 
to all men, and of teaching them with certainty, so 
that the result cannot fail." Among the uses of such 
an art he notes the advantage (1) to parents, that they 
may know that if correct methods have been employed 
with unerring accuracy, it is impossible that the 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 85 

desired result should not follow; (2) to teachers, who, 
without a knowledge of this art, try in turn first one 
plan and then another — a course which involves a 
tedious waste of time and energy; and (3) to schools, 
that they may become places of amusement, houses of 
delight and attraction, and that they may cause learn- 
ing to flourish. Such, in brief, are fundamental prin- 
ciples of a philosophy of education. How well those 
principles were elaborated and applied will be seen in 
the exposition of his writings which follows. 

Purpose of Education 

The opening chapters of the Great didactic treat of 
man as the highest, the most absolute, and the most 
excellent of created beings: of the life beyond as 
man's ultimate end, and of this life as merely a prepa- 
ration for eternity. The human being passes through 
three stages in his preparation for eternity — he learns 
to know himself, to rule himself, and to direct him- 
self to God. Man's natural craving is for knowledge, 
— learning, virtue, piety, — and the seeds of knowl- 
edge are implanted in every rational creature. The 
mind of man is unlimited in its aspirations. "The 
body is enclosed by small boundaries ; the voice roams 
within wider limits ; the sight is bounded only by the 
vault of heaven; but for the mind, neither in heaven 
nor anywhere outside of heaven can a boundary be 
fixed for it." 

Man delights in harmony; and, as respects both his 
mind and his body, he is a harmony. Just as the 
great world itself is like an immense piece of clock- 
work, put together with many wheels and bells, and 
arranged with such art that, throughout the whole 



86 COMENIUS 

structure, one part depends upon another through the 
harmony and perfection of the movements — so it is 
with man. All this harmony and perfection is made 
possible through education. 

He gave no bad definition, remarks Comenius, who 
said that man was a "teachable animal." But he must 
be taught, since he is born only with aptitudes. 
Before he can sit, stand, walk, or use his hands, he 
requires instruction. It is the law of all created 
things that they develop gradually and ultimately 
reach a state of perfection. Plato was right when he 
said, "If properly educated, man is the gentlest and 
most divine of created beings ; but if left uneducated 
or subjected to a false training, he is the most 
intractable thing in the world." 

Education is necessary for all classes of society; 
and this is the more apparent when we consider tlr£ 
marked individual differences to be found among 
human beings. No one doubts that the stupid need 
instruction that they may outgrow their stupidity. 
But clever and precocious minds require more careful 
instruction than dull and backward minds; since those 
who are mentally active, if not occupied with useful 
things, will busy themselves with what is useless, curi- 
ous, and pernicious. Just as a millstone grinds itself 
away with noise if wheat is not supplied, so an active 
mind, if void of serious things, entangles itself with 
vain, curious, and noxious thoughts, and becomes the 
cause of its own destruction. 

The time for education is in early youth. 1 God has, 

1 For an excellent discussion of the meaning of infancy see Pro- 
fessor John Fiske's Excursions of an evolutionist (Boston, 1896), 
pp. 306-319, and Professor Nicholas Murray Butler's Meaning of 
education (New York, 1898), pp. 3-34. 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 87 

accordingly, made the years of childhood unsuitable 
for anything but education; and this matter was 
interposed by the deliberate intent of a wise Provi- 
dence. Youth is a period of great plasticity. It is 
in the nature of everything that comes into being to 
bend and form easily while tender; but when the 
plastic period has passed to alter only with great diffi- 
culty. If one wishes to become a good tailor, writer, 
or musician, he must apply himself to his art from 
his earliest youth, during the period when his 
imagination is most active and when his fingers are 
most flexible. Only during the years of childhood is 
it possible to train the muscles to do skilled work. If, 
then, parents have the welfare of their children at 
heart, and if the good of the human race be dear to 
the civil and ecclesiastical guardians of society, let 
them hasten to make provision for the timely plant- 
ing, pruning, and watering of the plants of heaven 
that these may be prudently formed in letters, virtue, 
and piety. 

Private education is not desirable. Children should 
be trained in common, since better results and more 
pleasures are to be obtained when they are taught 
together in classes. Not only is class teaching a 
saving of labor over private instruction, but it intro- 
duces a rivalry that is both needful and helpful. 
Moreover, young children learn much that is useful 
by imitation through association with school-fellows. 
Comenius, it may be remarked, was one of the first 
of the educational reformers to see clearly the value 
of class teaching and graded instruction. His reforms 
in this direction have already been noted. 

School training is necessary for the children of all 



88 COMENIUS 

grades of society, not of the rich and powerful only, 
but the poor and lowly as well. Let none be neglected, 
unless God has denied him sense and intelligence. 
When it is urged that the laboring classes need no 
school education, let it be also recalled that they are 
expected to think, obey, and do good. 

Girls should be educated as well as boys. No satis- 
factory reason can be given why women should be 
excluded from the pursuits of knowledge, whether in 
the Latin or in the mother-tongue. They are formed 
in the image of God as well as men; and they are 
endowed with equal sharpness of mind and capacity 
for learning, often, indeed, with more than the oppo- 
site sex. Why, then, should we admit them to the 
alphabet, and afterwards drive them away from books? 
Comenius takes issue with most writers on education 
that study will make women blue-stockings and chat- 
terboxes. On the contrary, he maintains, the more 
their minds are occupied with the fruits of learning, 
the less room and temptation there will be for gossip 
and folly.. 

Not only should education be common to all classes 
of society, but the subjects of instruction should be 
common to the whole range of knowledge. Comenius 
holds that it is the business of educators to take 
strong and vigorous measures that no maii in his 
journey through life may encounter anything so un- 
known to him that he will be unable to pass sound 
judgment upon it and turn it to its proper use without 
serious error. This desire for encyclopaedic learning, 
as already noted, dominated his life and writings. 

But even Comenius recognized the futility of 
thoroughness in a wide range of instruction, and he 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 89 

expresses willingness to be satisfied if men know the 
principles, the causes, and the uses of all things in 
existence. It is general culture — something about a 
great many things — that he demands. 

Comenius clearly saw that the conditions of educa- 
tional institutions were wholly inadequate for the 
realization of these purposes — ■ (1) because of an 
insufficient number of schools, and (2) because of the 
unscientific character of current methods of instruc- 
tion. The exhortations of Martin Luther, he observes, 
remedied the former shortcoming, but it remains for 
the future to improve the latter. 

The best intellects are ruined by unsympathetic and 
unpedagogic methods. Such great severity character- 
izes the schools that they are looked upon as terrors 
for the boys and shambles for their intellects. Most 
of the students contract a dislike for learning, and 
many leave school altogether. The few who are forced 
by parents and guardians to remain acquire a most 
preposterous and wretched sort of education, so that 
instead of tractable lambs, the schools produce wild 
asses and restive mules. Nothing could be more 
wretched than the discipline of the schools. " What 
should be gently instilled into the intellect is violently 
impressed upon it, nay, rather flogged into it. How 
many, indeed, leave the schools and universities with 
scarcely a notion of true learning." Comenius laments 
that he and many thousands of his contemporaries 
have miserably lost the sweet springtime of life and 
wasted the fresh years of youth on scholastic trifles. 



90 COMENIUS 

Education according to Nature 

Comenius proposes to so reconstruct systems of 
education that (1) all shall be educated, except those 
to whom God has denied understanding, in all. those 
subjects calculated to make men wise, virtuous, and 
pious ; (2) the course of training, being a preparation 
for life, shall be completed before maturity is attained ; 
(3) and schools shall be conducted without blows, 
gently and pleasantly, in the most natural manner. 
Bold innovator! How clearly he perceived the faults 
of the schools of his day ; with what keen insight he 
formulated methods for their improvement; and with 
what hope in the reform which has gone forward 
steadily for these two hundred and seventy-five years, 
but which even now is far from being an accomplished 
fact! 

The basis of the reform which he advocates is an 
application of the principle of order — order in the 
management of time, in the arrangement of subjects 
taught, and in the methods employed. Nature fur- 
nishes us a criterion for order in ail matters pertain- 
ing to the improvement of human society. Certain 
universal principles, which are fundamental to his 
philosophy of education, are deduced from nature. 
These, stripped of their tedious examples and details, 
are: — 

1. Nature observes a suitable time. 

2. She prepares the material before she attempts to 
give it form. 

3. She chooses a fit subject to act upon, or first 
submits her subject to a suitable treatment in order to 
make it fit. 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 91 

4. She is not confused in her operations; but, in 
her onward march, advances with precision from one 
point to another. 

5. In all the operations of nature, development is 
from within. 

6. In her formative processes, she begins with the 
universal and ends with the particular. 

7. Nature makes no leaps, but proceeds step by- 
step. 

8. When she begins a thing, she does not leave off 
until the operation is completed. 

9. She avoids all obstacles that are likely to inter- 
fere with her operations. 

With nature as our guide, Comenius believes that 
the process of education will be easy, (1) if it is begun 
before the mind is corrupted; (2) if the mind is pre- 
pared to receive it; (3) if we proceed from the general 
to the particular, from what is easy to what is more 
complex; (4) if the pupils are not overburdened with 
too many different studie's; (5) if the instruction is 
graded to the stages of the mental development of the 
learners ; (6) if the interests of the children are con- 
sulted and their intellects are not forced along lines 
for which they have no natural bent; (7) if everything 
is taught through the medium of the senses ; (8) if the 
utility of instruction is emphasized; and (9) if every- 
thing is taught by one and the same method. 

Nature begins by a careful selection of materials, 
therefore education should commence early ; the pupils 
should not have more than one teacher in each subject, 
and before anything else is done, the morals should be 
rendered harmonious by the teacher's influence. 

Nature always makes preparation for each advance 



92 COMENIUS 

step; therefore, the desire to know and to learn should 
be excited in children in every way possible, and the 
method of instruction should lighten the drudgery, 
that there may be nothing to hinder progress in school 
studies. 

Nature develops everything from beginnings which, 
though insignificant in appearance, possess great poten- 
tial strength ; whereas, the practice of most teachers is 
in direct opposition to this principle. Instead of start- 
ing with fundamental facts, they begin with a chaos 
of diverse conclusions. 

Nature advances from what is easy to what is more 
difficult. It is, therefore, wrong to teach the unknown 
through the medium of that which is equally unknown. 
Such errors may be avoided if pupils and teachers talk 
in the same language and explanations are given in the 
language that the pupil understands ; if grammars and 
dictionaries are adapted in the language and to the 
understanding of the pupils; if, in the study of a 
foreign language, the pupils first learn to understand 
it, then to write it, and lastly to speak it; if in such 
study the pupils get to know first that which is nearest 
to their mental vision, then that which lies moderately 
near, then that which is more remote, and lastly that 
which is farthest off; and if children be made to exer- 
cise first their senses, then their memory, and finally 
their understanding. 

Nature does not overburden herself, but is content 
with a little at a time ; therefore the mental energies 
of the pupils should not be dissipated over a wide 
range of subject-matter. 

Nature advances slowly; therefore school sessions 
should be shortened to four hours ; pupils should be 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 93 

forced to memorize as little as possible ; school instruc- 
tion should be graded to the ages and capacities of the 
children. 

Nature compels nothing to advance that is not driven 
forward by its own mature strength; therefore it fol- 
lows that nothing should be taught to children not 
demanded by their age, interests, and mental ability. 

Nature assists her operations in every possible 
manner; therefore children should not be punished 
for inability to learn. Bather, instruction should be 
given through the senses that it may be retained in 
the memory with less effort. 

Nothing is produced by nature the practical applica- 
tion of which is not evident; therefore those things 
only should be taught whose application can be easily 
demonstrated. 

Nature is uniform in all her operations ; hence the 
same method of instruction should be adapted to all 
subjects of study, and the text-books in each subject 
should, as far as possible, be of the same editions. 

Comenius observes that there is a very general com- 
plaint that few leave school with a thorough education, 
and that most of the instruction retained in after life 
is little more than a mere shadow of true knowledge. 
He considers that the complaint is well corroborated 
by facts, and attributes the cause to the insignificant 
and unimportant studies with which the schools occupy 
themselves. If we would correct this evil, we must go 
to the school of nature and investigate the methods 
she adopts to give endurance to the beings which she 
has created. * 

A method should be found by means of which each 
person will be able not only to bring into his mental 



94 COMENIUS 

consciousness that which he has learned, but at the 
same time to pass sound judgment on the objective 
facts to which his information refers. This will be 
possible if only those subjects are studied which will 
be of real service in the later life ; if such subjects be 
taught without digression or interruption; if a thor- 
ough grounding precede the detailed instruction ; if all 
that comes later be based upon what has gone before ; 
if great stress be laid on the points of resemblance 
between cognate subjects; if the studies be arranged 
with reference to the pupils' present mental develop- 
ment, and if knowledge be fixed in the memory by 
constant use. 

In support of his principle of thoroughness, Come- 
nius adduces the following proofs from nature : Noth- 
ing is produced by nature that is useless. When she 
forms a body, she omits nothing that is necessary. 
She does not operate on anything unless it possesses 
foundations, and she strikes her roots deep and devel- 
ops everything from them. She never remains at 
rest, but advances continually; never begins anything 
fresh at the expense of work already begun, but pro- 
ceeds with what she has started and brings it to com- 
pletion. She knits everything together in continuous 
combination, preserving due proportion with respect 
to both quality and quantity. Through constant exer- 
cise she becomes strong and fruitful. 

Progress is less a question of strength than of skill. 
Hitherto little has been accomplished in the school- 
life of the child, because no set landmarks have been 
set up as goals to be reached by the pupils; things 
naturally associated are not taught together; the arts 
and sciences are scarcely ever thought of as an encyclo- 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 95 

psedic whole; 'the methods employed are as numerous 
and diverse as the schools and teachers ; instruction is 
individual and private, and not public and general, and 
books are selected with too little regard for the value 
of their contents. If these matters could be reformed, 
there is no doubt in the mind of Comenius that the 
whole circle of the sciences might be covered during 
the period of school training. Toward the solution of 
this problem he answers the following questions : — 

1. How can a single teacher instruct a large num- 
ber of children at the same time? In answer, he 
maintains that it is not only possible for one teacher 
to instruct several hundred children (!) at once, but 
that it is essential for the best interests of both the 
teacher and the children (! !). The larger the number 
of pupils, the greater will be the teacher's interest in 
his work; and the keener his interest, the greater the 
enthusiasm of his pupils. In the same way, to the 
children, the presence of a number of companions will 
be productive not only of utility, but also of enjoy- 
ment, since they will mutually stimulate and assist 
one another. For children of this age, emulation and 
rivalry are the best incentives to study. The reader 
will observe that this scheme of Comenius contem- 
plates some adaptation of the system of pupil teach- 
ing, and that it interdicts all efforts at individual 
instruction. 

2. How far is it possible for pupils to be taught 
from the same book? It is an undisputed fact, says 
Comenius, that too many facts presented to the mind 
at the same time distract the attention. It will, there- 
fore, be of great advantage if the pupils be permitted 
to use no books except those which have been expressly 



96 COMENIUS 

composed for the class in which they are. Such books 
should contain a complete, thorough, and accurate epit- 
ome of all the subjects of instruction. They should give 
a true representation of the entire universe ; should be 
written simply and clearly — preferably in the form of 
a dialogue; and should give the pupils sufficient assist- 
ance to enable them, if necessary, to pursue their 
studies without the help of a master. 

3. How is it possible for all the pupils in a school 
to do the same thing at one time? This may be accom- 
plished by having a course of instruction commence 
at a definite time of each year; and by and by so 
dividing the course of instruction that each year, each 
month, each week, each day, each hour may have a 
definite appointed task for it. 

4. How is it possible to teach everything according 
to one and the same method? That there is only 
one natural method has already been satisfactorily 
demonstrated (to the mind of Comenius), and the uni- 
versal adoption of this natural method'will be as great 
a boon to pupils as a plain and undeviating road is to 
travellers. 

5. How can many things be explained in a few 
words? The purpose of education is not to fill the 
mind with a dreary waste of words from books. 
Eightly says Seneca of instruction : " Its administra- 
tion should resemble the sowing of seed, in which 
stress is laid not on the quantity, but on the quality." 

6. How is it possible to do two or three things by 
a single operation? It may be laid down as a general 
rule that each subject should be taught in combination 
with those which are correlative to it. Reading, pen- 
manship, spelling, language, and nature study should 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 97 

work together in the acquisition and expression of 
ideas. As Professor Hanus 1 has pointed out, 
Comenius clearly foreshadowed the correlation and 
coordination of school studies at least two centuries 
before Herbart. Indeed, he went so far as to urge the 
correlation of school instruction with the plays and 
games of children. He urged that children be given 
tools and allowed to imitate the different handicrafts, 
by playing at farming, at politics, at being soldiers 
or architects. In the game of war they may be allowed 
to take the part of field-marshals, generals, captains, 
and standard-bearers. In that of politics they may be 
kings, ministers, chancellors, secretaries, and ambassa- 
dors, as well as senators, consuls, and lawyers; since 
such pleasantries often lead to serious things. Thus, 
maintains Comenius, would be fulfilled Luther's wish 
that the studies of the young at school might be so 
organized that the pupils would take as much pleasure 
in them as playing at ball all day. In this way, the 
schools might become a real prelude to the more 
serious duties of practical life. 

Methods of Instruction 

A correct method of instruction was to Comenius, as 
has already been pointed out, the panacea for most of 
the ills of teaching. He made reform in methodology 
the starting point of all his schemes for educational 
improvement. In the Great didactic he considers 
reform in methods of instructing in the sciences, arts, 
language, morals, and religion. 

1 Permanent influence of Comenius, Educational Review, March, 
1892. Vol. Ill, pp. 226-236. 

H 



98 COMENIUS 

1. Science. Knowledge of nature or science requires 
objects to be perceived and sufficient attention for the 
perception of the objects. The youth who would com- 
prehend the sciences must observe four rules : (1) he 
must keep the eye of his mind pure ; (2) he must see 
that the proper relationship is established between 
the eye and the object ; (3) he must attend to the object; 
(4) he must proceed from one object to another in 
accordance with a suitable method. 

The beginning of wisdom in the sciences consists, 
not in the mere learning of the names of things, but in 
the actual perception of the things themselves. It is 
after the thing has been grasped by the senses that 
language should fulfil its function of still further 
explaining it. The senses are the trusty servants of 
the memory, leading to the permanent retention of 
the knowledge that has been acquired. Reasoning, 
also, is conditioned and mediated by the experience 
gained through sense-perception. It is evident, there- 
fore, that if we wish to develop a true love and 
knowledge of science, we must take special care to 
see that everything is learned by actual observation 
through sense-perception. This should be the golden 
rule of teachers : Everything should as far as possible 
be placed before the senses. 

When the objects themselves cannot be procured, 
representations of them may be used ; models may be 
constructed or the objects may be represented by 
means of engravings. This is especially needful in 
such studies as geography, geometry, botany, zoology, 
physiology, and physics. It requires both labor and 
expense to produce models, but the results of such aids 
will more than repay the efforts. In the absence of 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 99 

both objects and models, the things may be repre- 
sented by means of pictures. 1 

2. Arts. "Theory/' says Vives, "is easy and short, 
but has no result other than the gratification that it 
affords. Practice, on the other hand, is difficult and 
prolix, but of immense utility." Since this is so, 
remarks Comenius, we should diligently seek out a 
method by which the young may be easily led to 
the application of such natural forces as one finds in 
the arts. 

In the acquisition of an art, three things are required : 
(1) a model which the pupil may examine and then 
try to imitate ; (2) material on which the new form is 
to be impressed; and (3) instruments by the aid of 
which the work is accomplished. After these have 
been provided, three things more are necessary before 
an art can be learned — a proper use of the materials, 
skilled guidance, and frequent practice. 

Progress in the art studies is primarily through 
practice. Let the pupils learn to write by writing, to 
talk by talking, and to sing by singing. Since imita- 
tion is such an important factor in the mastery of an 
art, it is sheer cruelty to try to force a pupil to do that 
which you wish done, while the pupil is ignorant of 
your wishes. The use of instruments should be shown 
in practice, and not by words ; by example, rather than 
by precept. It is many years since Quintilian wrote, 
" Through precepts the way is long and difficult, while 
through examples it is short and practicable." But 
alas ! remarks Comenius, how little heed the schools 
pay to this advice. Man is essentially an imitative 

1 The Orb is pictus, the first child's picture-book, was subsequently- 
prepared to meet this need. 

Larc. 



100 COMENIUS 

animal, and it is by imitation that children learn to 
walk, to run, to talk, and to play. 1 Rules are like 
thorns to the understanding, since to grasp them 
requires a degree of mental development not common 
during the elementary school life of the child. 

Comenius would have the first attempts at imita- 
tion as accurate as possible, since whatever comes first 
is the foundation of that which is to follow. All 
haste in the first steps should be avoided, lest we pro- 
ceed to the advanced work before the elements have 
been mastered. 

Perfect instruction in the arts is "based on both 
synthesis and analysis. The synthetic steps should 
generally come first, since we should commence with 
what is easy, and our own efforts are always easiest to 
understand. But the accurate analysis of the work of 
others must not be neglected. Finally, it must be 
remembered that it is practice, nothing but faithful 
practice, that makes an artist. 

3. Language. We learn languages, not merely for 
the erudition and wisdom which they hold, but because 
languages are the instruments by which we acquire 
knowledge and by which we impart our knowledge to 
others. The study of languages, particularly in youth, 
should be joined to the study of objects. The intelli- 
gence should thus be exercised on matters which appeal 
to the interests and comprehension of children. They 
waste their time who place before children Cicero and 
the other great writers ; for, if students do not under- 
stand the subject-matter, how can they master the 
various devices for expressing it forcibly ? The time 

1 See in this connection Tarde's Laws of imitation. New York, 
1900. 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 101 

would be more usefully spent on less ambitious efforts, 
so correlated that the languages and the general intelli- 
gence might advance together step by step. Nature 
makes no leaps, neither does art, since art imitates 
nature. 

Each language should be learned separately. First 
of all, the mother-tongue should be learned ; then a 
modern language — that of a neighboring nation; 
after this, Latin ; and, lastly, Greek and Hebrew. The 
mother-tongue, because of its intimate connection with 
the gradual unfolding of the objective world to the 
senses, will require from eight to ten years ; a modern 
language may be mastered in one year ; Latin in two 
years ; Greek in one year ; and Hebrew in six months. 

There are four stages in the study of a language. 
The first is the age of babbling infancy, during which 
time language is indistinctly spoken ; the second is the 
age of ripening boyhood, in which the language is 
correctly spoken; the third is the age of mature 
youth, in which the language is elegantly spoken ; and 
the fourth is the age of vigorous manhood, in which 
the language is forcibly spoken. 

4. Morals. If the schools are to become forging 
places of humanity, the art of moral instruction must 
be more definitely elaborated. To this end Comenius 
formulates the following pedagogic rules : — 

All the virtues may be implanted in men. 

Those virtues which are called cardinal virtues — 
prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice — should 
first be implanted. 

Prudence may be acquired through good instruction, 
and by learning the differences which exist between 
things and the relative value of those things. Come- 



102 COMENIUS 

nius expresses agreement with Vives, that sound judg- 
ment must be acquired in early youth. 

Children should be taught to observe temperance in 
eating, drinking, sleeping, exercising, and playing. 

Fortitude is to be learned by the suppression of ex- 
cessive desires — playing at the wrong time or beyond 
the proper time — and by avoiding manifestations of 
anger, discontent, and impatience. It is needful for 
the young to learn fortitude in the matter of frankness 
and endurance in toil. Children must be taught to 
work, and moral education must preach the gospel of 
work. 

Lastly, examples of well-ordered lives in the persons 
of parents, teachers, nurses, and schoolmates must 
continually be set before the children, and they must 
be carefully guarded against bad associations. 

5. Religion. In the scheme of education which 
Comenius outlines in the Great didactic, religion 
occupies the most exalted place; and while training 
in morals is accessory to religion, children must in 
addition be given specific instruction in piety. For 
this purpose definite methods of instruction are out- 
lined. Instruction in piety must be of such a 
character as to lead children to follow God, by giving 
themselves completely up to His will, by acquiescing 
in His love, and by singing His praises. The child's 
heart may thus be joined to His in love through 
meditation, prayer, and examination. Children should 
early be habituated to the outward works which He 
commands, that they may be trained to express their 
faith by works. At first they will not understand the 
true nature of what they are doing, since their intelli- 
gence is not yet sufficiently developed; but it is 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 103 

important that they learn to do what subsequent 
experience will teach them to be right. 1 

While Comenius was not willing to go as far as St. 
Augustine and the early church fathers in the matter 
of abolishing altogether the whole body of pagan 
literature from the school, nevertheless, he thought 
that the best interests of the religious education of 
the child required unusual precaution in the reading of 
pagan books. He reminds his readers that it is the 
business of Christian schools to form citizens, not 
merely for this world, but also for heaven, and that 
accordingly children should read mainly those authors 
who are well acquainted with heavenly as well as 
with earthly things. 

Types of Educational Institutions 

The modern fourfold division of education into 
kindergarten, elementary schools, secondary schools, 
colleges or universities was clearly foreshadowed by 
Comenius in the Great didactic. His philosophy of 
education comprehends a school of infancy, a school 
of the mother-tongue, a Latin school, and a university. 
These different institutions, he notes, are not merely 
to deal with different subjects, but they are to treat 
the same subjects in different ways, giving such 
instruction in all of them as will make true men, 
true Christians, and true scholars, although grading 
the instruction throughout to the age, capabilities, 
and previous training of the learners. 

1. School of infancy. Comenius would have a 

1 For a more detailed account of Comenius' views on the religious 
education of children see the following chapter on the School of 
infancy. 



104 COMENIUS 

mother's school in every home, where children may 
be given such training as will fit them at the age of 
six years to begin regular studies in the vernacular 
school. He prepared for the use of mothers during 
this period a detailed outline, which he published 
under the title, Information for mothers, or School of 
infancy. An analysis of this book is given in the 
following chapter on the earliest training of the child. 

2. School of the mother-tongue. This covers the 
years from six to twelve, and includes all children of 
both sexes. The aim of this school is to teach the 
young such things as will be of practical utility in later 
life — to read with ease both printing and writing in 
the mother-tongue; to write first with accuracy, and 
finally with confidence in accordance with the rules of 
the mother-tongue ; to compute numbers as far as may 
be necessary for practical purposes ; to measure spaces, 
such as lengths, breadths and distances ; to sing well- 
known melodies, and to learn by heart the- greater 
number of psalms and hymns commonly used in the 
country. In addition, the children study the princi- 
ples of morality, the general history of the world, the 
geography of the earth and principal kingdoms of 
Europe, elementary economics and politics, and the 
rudiments of the mechanical arts. 

The six years of the school of the mother-tongue 
are graded into six classes, with a detailed course 
of study for each class. Provision is made for four 
lessons daily, two in the forenoon and two in the 
afternoon. The remaining hours of the day are to be x 
spent in domestic work or in some form of recreation. 
The morning hours are devoted to such studies as 
train the intellect; the afternoons to such as give 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 105 

manual skill. No new work is to be introduced in 
the afternoon ; but the pupils may review and discuss 
the lessons developed during the morning sessions. 
If it is desired that a foreign language be introduced, 
it should not be begun before the tenth year. 

3. The Latin school. The purpose of the Latin 
school is to give a more thorough and comprehensive 
training to those aspiring to callings higher than the 
industrial pursuits. It covers the years from twelve 
to eighteen, and was also divided into six classes,— 
the grammar, natural philosophy, mathematical, ethics, 
dialectic, and rhetorical classes. Since Comenius , 
views on Latin are so fully set forth in a later chapter 
on language teaching and the Janua, it is only neces- 
sary here to recall that his curriculum for the Latin 
school includes a wide range of culture subjects. The 
most important of the culture studies of the Latin 
school is history, including an epitome of Biblical 
history, natural history, the history of arts, inventions 
and customs, history of morals, and a general historical 
survey of the leading modern nations of the world. 

4. University. While Comenius frankly admits 
that his experience has been chiefly limited to work 
in elementary and secondary schools, still he sees no 
reason why he should not state his views and wishes 
with regard to superior instruction. The curriculum 
of the university conceived in the Great didactic is 
universal in character, making provision for a wide 
range of studies in every branch of human knowledge. 
The university must possess learned and able profes- 
sors in the languages, sciences, and arts, as well as a 
library of well-selected books for the common use of 
all. One of the fundamental aims of the university 



106 COMENIUS 

is to widen the domain of knowledge through original 
investigation ; in consequence, its equipment must fit 
it for research work. 

How fully these schemes have been realized, the 
reader may appreciate by comparing the types of edu- 
cational institutions of the United States and Germany 
with those of the Great didactic, which were outlined 
by Comenius more than two centuries ago. 

School Discipline 

The Great didactic is an eloquent protest against 
the severe and inhuman discipline of Comenius' day. 
Schools which abound with shrieks and blows, he says, 
are not well disciplined. Discipline is quite another 
thing; it is an unfailing method by which we may 
make our pupils pupils in reality. This makes it 
necessary for the teacher to know the child, the being 
to be disciplined, the subjects of study which serve as 
mental stimulants, and the relations which should 
exist between the child and the subjects to be taught. 

Discipline must be free from personal elements, such 
as anger or dislike, and should be exercised with frank- 
ness and sincerity. Teachers should administer pun- 
ishments just as physicians prescribe medicines — 
with a view to improving the condition of the indi- 
vidual. Nor should severe forms of discipline be 
exercised in connection with studies or literary exer- 
cises. Studies, if they are properly taught, form in 
themselves a sufficient attraction. When this is not 
the case, the fault lies not with the pupil, but with the 
teacher ; if his skill is unable to make an impression 
on the understanding, his blows will have no effect. 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 107 

Indeed, lie is more likely to produce a distaste for 
letters than a love for them by the application of force. 

Whenever, therefore, we see a mind that is diseased 
or dislikes study, we should try to remove its disposi- 
tion by gentle remedies ; but on no account should we 
employ violent ones. The sun gives us an excellent les- 
son on this point. In the spring-time, when the plants 
are young and tender, it does not scorch them, but warms 
and invigorates them ; it does not put forth its full 
heat until they are full grown. The gardener proceeds 
on the same principle, and does not apply the pruning 
knife to plants that are immature. In the same way 
the musician does not strike his instrument a blow 
with his fist or throw it against the wall because it 
produces a discordant sound ; but setting to work on 
scientific principles, he tunes it and gets it into order. 
Just such a skilful and sympathetic treatment is 
necessary to instil a love of learning into the minds 
of pupils ; and any other procedure will only convert 
their idleness into antipathy and their interest into 
downright stupidity. 

Severe forms of discipline should be used only in 
cases of moral delinquencies, as (1) impiety of any 
kind, such as blasphemy, obscenity, and other offences 
against God's law ; (2) stubbornness and premeditated 
misbehavior, such as disobeying orders and conscious 
neglect of duty ; and (3) pride, disdain, envy, and idle- 
ness. Offences of the first kind are an insult against 
the majesty of God; those of the second kind under- 
mine the foundations of virtue ; and those of the third 
prevent any rapid progress in studies. An offence 
against God is a crime, and should be expiated by an 
extremely severe punishment ; an offence against man 



108 COMENIUS 

is iniquitous, and should be promptly corrected ; but 
an offence against Priscian is a stain that may be 
wiped out by the sponge of blame. In a word, the 
object of discipline should be to stir the pupils to 
revere God, to assist their fellows, and to perform the 
labors and duties of life with alacrity. 



CHAPTER VII 

EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 

School of infancy — Circumstances under which written — View 
of childhood — Conception of infant education. Physical train- 
ing — Care of the body — The child's natural nurse — Foods — 
Sleep — Play and exercise. Mental training — Studies which fur- 
nish the materials of thought, and studies which furnish the 
Symbols of thought — Nature study — Geography — History — 
Household economy — Stories and fables — Principle of activity 

— Drawing — Arithmetic — Geometry — Music — Language — 
Poetry. Moral and religious training — Examples — Instruction 

— Discipline — Some virtues to be taught — Character of formal 
religious instruction. 

The School of Infancy 

Plato, Qnintilian, Plutarch, and other writers on 
education have discussed the earliest training of the 
child, but none of these early writers have compre- 
hended the significance of infancy with any such peda- 
gogic insight as Comenius ; and his School of infancy 
has taken a permanent place among the classics which 
deal with the period of childhood. It was written 
during the years 1628 to 1630, when he was in charge 
of the Moravian school at Lissa. A German edition 
(it was originally written in the Sclavic tongue) ap- 
peared at Lissa in 1633, a second edition at Leipzig 
in 1634, and a third German edition at Nuremberg 
in 1636. Subsequently Polish, Bohemian, and Latin 

109 



110 COMENIUS 

translations appeared; and Joseph Muller, 1 a most 
painstaking Comenius bibliographer, mentions an Eng- 
lish translation in 1641. I have found no other refer- 
ence to an English translation so early. As already- 
noted, however, Comenius was well and favorably 
known to Milton, Hartlib, and others high in educa- 
tional authority in England ; and the fact that most 
of his other writings were translated there gives cred- 
ence to Mr. Mtiller's statement. In the year 1858, 
Mr. Daniel Benham 2 published in London an English 
translation, to which he prefixed a well-written account 
of the life of Comenius. But his translation was soon 
out of print ; and this excellent treatise in conse- 
quence remained inaccessible to English readers until 
the appearance of my own translation. (Boston, 1896. 
Republished in London, 1897.) 

The School of infancy was written as a guide for 
mothers during the first six years of the child's life, 
and was dedicated to " pious Christian parents, guar- 
dians, teachers, and all upon whom the charge of chil- 
dren is incumbent." Since the education of the child 
must begin at its birth, mothers must assume the 
teacher's role ; and the mothers of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, according to Comenius, were altogether unfitted 
because of lack of training to undertake this high and 
holy mission. Accordingly, the School of infancy out- 
lines definite instructions for mothers. 

Comenius was too deeply grounded in the religious 



1 Zur Biickerkunde des Comenius, Monatshefte der Comenius- 
Gesellschaft. 1892. Vol. I., pp. 19-53. 

2 School of infancy : an essay on the education of youth during 
the first six years, by John Amos Comenius. To which is prefixed 
a sketch of the life of the author. London, 1858. pp. 168 + 75. 



t 



EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 111 

dogmas of his day to abandon altogether the doctrine 
of original sin, then so generally held ; but he main- 
tained that suitable early training would overcome 
most of the original perversity in the human heart. 
No one, he urges, should be a mother or a teacher who 
does not hold unbounded faith in the possibilities of 
childhood. The child is not to be regarded with refer- 
ence to its youthful disabilities, but rather with a 
view to the purposes of the Divine mind, as Frobel 
would say, regard the child as a pledge of the pres- 
ence, goodness, and love of God. What higher tribute 
to childhood than this : " The mother that has under 
her care the training of a little child possesses a garden 
in which celestial plantlets are sown, watered, bloom, 
and nourish. How inexpressibly blessed is a mother 
in such a paradise ! " With Quintilian he asks : " Has 
a son been born to you ? From the first, conceive only 
the highest hopes for him." 

The purpose in the education of the child is three- 
fold: (1) faith and piety, (2) uprightness in respect to 
morals, and (3) knowledge of languages and arts ; and 
this order must not be inverted. Parents, therefore, 
do not fully perform therr duty when they merely 
teach their offspring to eat, drink, walk, and talk. 
These things are merely subservient to the body, 
which is not the man, but his tabernacle only; the 
rational soul dwells within, and rightly claims greater 
care than its outward tenement. 

In the education of the child, care especially for 
the soul, which is the highest part of its nature ; and 
next, attend to the body, that it may be made a fit 
and worthy habitation for the soul. Aim to train the 
child to a clear and true knowledge of God and all his 



112 COMENIUS 

wonderful works, and a knowledge of himself, so that 
he may wisely and prudently regulate his actions. 

It must be borne in mind, however, that to properly 
train children requires clear insight and assiduous 
labor. It is to be regretted that so many parents are 
too incompetent to instruct their children and that 
others, by reason of the performance of family and 
social duties, are unable to discharge this high and 
holy mission. All such, of course, must hand their 
children over to some one else to instruct. But they 
should intrust their little ones to the care and training 
of such instructors only who will make the act of 
learning pleasing and agreeable — a mere amusement 
and mental delight. 

Schools should be retreats of ease, places of literary 
amusement, and not houses of torture. A musician 
does not dash his instrument against the wall, or give 
it blows and cuffs because he cannot draw music from 
it, but continues to apply his skill until he is able to 
extract a melody. So by your skill you should bring 
the mind of the young child into harmony with his 
studies. 

The first step in the education of the child is the 
most important. Every one knows that whatever 
form the branches of an old tree may have, that they 
must necessarily have been so formed from the first 
growth. The animal born blind, lame, defective, or 
deformed remains so. The training of the child's 
body, mind, and soul should, therefore, be a matter 
of earnest thought from the very first. 

While it is possible for God to completely transform 
an inveterately bad man, yet, in the regular course of 
nature, it scarcely ever happens otherwise than that 



EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 113 

as a being is formed during the early stages of devel- 
opment, so it matures, and so it remains. Whatever 
seed is sown in youth, such fruit is reaped in old age. 

ISTor is it wise to delay such training until the child 
is old enough to be instructed in a school, since ten- 
dencies are acquired which are difficult to overcome. 
It is impossible to make a tree straight that has grown 
crooked, or to produce an orchard from a forest every- 
where surrounded with briers and thorns. This makes 
it necessary for parents to know something about the 
management of children, that they may be able to 
lay the foundations upon which the teachers are to 
build when the child enters school at the age of six 
years. 

Great care must be exercised with reference to the 
methods adopted with children so young. The instruc- 
tion need not be apportioned to the same degree that 
it is apportioned in schools, since at this early age all 
children are not endowed with equal ability, some 
beginning to speak in the first year, some in the 
second, and some not until the third year. 

Physical Training 

The first care of the mother must be for the health 
of her child, since bodily vigor so largely conditions 
normal mental development. "A certain author," 
says Comenius, " advises that parents ought ' to pray 
for a sound mind in a sound body/ but they ought to 
labor as well as pray." Since the early care of the 
child devolves largely on the mother, Comenius coun- 
sels women with reference to the hygiene of childhood. 
Prenatal conditions are no less important than post- 



114 COMENIUS 

natal; and prospective mothers should observe tem- 
perance in diet, avoid violent movements, control the 
emotions, and indulge in no excessive sleep or indolence. 

For good and sufficient reasons the mother should 
nurse her own child. "How grievous, how hurtful, 
how reprehensible," he exclaims, "is the conduct of 
some mothers, especially among the upper classes, who, 
feeling it irksome to nourish their own offspring, dele- 
gate the duty to other women." This cruel alienation 
of mothers from their children, he maintains, is the 
greatest obstacle to the early training of the child. 
Such conduct is clearly opposed to nature : the wolf 
and bear, the lion and panther, nourish their offspring 
with their own milk; and shall the mothers of the 
human race be less affectionate than the wild beasts ? 
Moreover, it contributes to the health of the child to 
be nourished by its natural mother. 

Comenius has some sound advice for mothers on the 
kinds of food for young children. At the first it must 
as nearly as possible approximate to their natural ali- 
ment; it must be soft, sweet, and easily digestible. 
Milk is an excellent food; and after milk, bread, 
butter, and vegetables. All highly seasoned foods are 
to be avoided ; and Comenius urges mothers to regard 
medicines as they would poisons, and avoid them 
altogether. Children accustomed to medicine from 
their earliest years are certain to become "feeble, 
sickly, infirm, pale-faced, imbecile, cancerous." 

Children during the earliest years require an abun- 
dance of sleep, fresh air, and exercise. They need not 
only to be exercised, but their exercises should be in 
the nature of amusements. "A joyful mind," he 
remarks, "is half health, and the joy of the heart is 



EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 115 

the very life-spring of the child." These exercises for 
the amusement of the child may provide for the pleas- 
ure of its eyes, ears, and other senses, as well as con- 
tribute to the vigor of its body and mind. Play not 
only conduces to the health of the child, but it lays the 
basis for later development. 1 

Mental Training 

For the mental training of the child during its first 
six years Comenius has outlined two classes of studies : 
(1) those which furnish the materials of thought, such 
as nature study, geography, and household economy, 
and (2) those which furnish the symbols of thought, 
such as drawing, writing, and language. This group- 
ing of form and content studies, it should be noted, 
has been followed by the disciples of Herbart in their 
schemes of classification. 

The first and second years of the child's life must 
be entirely given over to the development of organic 
functions ; but, by the beginning of the third year, the 
child has acquired a vocabulary, and he should be 
taught to comprehend the meaning of the words he 
uses. This early knowledge should be of natural 
things — plants, flowers, trees, sand, clay, the cow, 
horse, and dog. He may be taught to comprehend 
some of the more important observable characters of 
these objects and to know their uses. 

Special exercises should be provided for the training 

1 To except Locke no reformer before Comenius' time has set 
forth the need of physical training with anything like the clearness 
and fulness of the School of infancy. See Some thoughts concern- 
ing education by John Locke. Edited with introduction and notes 
by R. H. Quick. London, 1884. pp. 240. 



116 COMENIUS 

of the eye ; excessive lights must be avoided, and also 
overstraining. Children may be moderately intro- 
duced to objects of color, and thus taught to enjoy the 
beauty of the heavens, trees, flowers, and running 
water. In the fourth and following years they should 
be taken into fields and along the rivers, and trained to 
observe plants, animals, running water, and the turning 
of windmills. In both nature study and geography 
Comenius anticipated the Heimatskunde of Pesta- 
lozzi. 

Children should also during their first six years be 
taught to know the heavens, and to distinguish between 
sun, moon, and stars ; to understand that the sun and 
moon rise and set; to recognize that the days are 
shortest in winter and longest in summer ; to distin- 
guish time — morning, noonday, evening, and when to 
eat, sleep, and pray. 

The study of geography should be begun at the 
cradle, and the location, distance, and direction of the 
nursery, kitchen, bed-chamber, and orchard should 
early be learned. They should have out-door lessons 
in geography, and be taught to find their way through 
the streets, to the market-place, and to the homes of 
their friends and relatives. In the fifth year they 
should study a city, field, orchard, forest, hill, and 
river, and fix what they learn about these things in 
the memory. 

The early historic instruction should begin with a 
development of the sense of time — the working days 
and the Sabbath days, when to attend and engage in 
divine services, the occurrence of such solemn festivals 
as Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and the sig- 
nificance of these holy occasions. The child may also 



EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 117 

be trained to recall where he was and what he did 
yesterday, the day before, a week ago. 

Household economy should receive important in- 
struction during the first six years of the child's life. 
He must be trained to know the relation which he is 
to sustain to his father and mother, and to obey each ; 
where to place and how to care for his clothes ; the 
use of toys and playthings ; the economy of the home, 
and his place in that economy. 

Comenius also commends stories and fables, particu- 
larly those about animals which contain some moral 
principle. " Stories," says Comenius, " greatly sharpen 
the innate capacity of children." Ingeniously con- 
structed stories serve a twofold purpose in the early 
development of the child: they occupy their minds, 
and they instil knowledge which will afterward be of 
use. 

The greatest service which parents can render their 
children during these early years is to encourage play. 
This must not be left to chance, but must be provided 
for ; and children need, most of all, to play with other 
children near their own age. In such social plays with 
their companions there is neither the assumption of 
authority nor the dread of fear, but the free inter- 
course which calls forth all their powers of invention, 
sharpens their wits, and cultivates their manners and 
habits. 

In his discussion of the form studies, such as draw- 
ing, writing, and language, Comenius remarks that 
nothing delights children more than to be doing some- 
thing. Youthful vigor will not long permit them to 
be at rest ; and this spontaneous activity requires wise 
regulation, in order that children may acquire the habit 



118 COMENIUS 

of doing things that they will be required to do later. 1 
This is the time when children are most imaginative 
and imitative ; they delight in doing the things that 
they have seen done by their elders. All these imita- 
tive exercises give health to their bodies, agility to 
their movements, and vigor to their muscles. 

At this period children delight in construction ; sup- 
ply them with material with which they may exercise 
whatever architectural genius they may have — clay, 
wood, blocks, and stones, with which to construct 
houses, walls, etc. They should also have toy car- 
riages, houses, mills, plows, swords, and knives. 
Children delight in activity, and parents should realize 
that restraint is alike harmful to the development of 
the mind and the body. 

After children have been taught to walk, run, jump, 
roll hoop, throw balls, and to construct with blocks and 
clay, supply them with chalk or charcoal, and allow 
them to draw according as their inclination may be 
excited. In arithmetic Comenius recognizes the diffi- 
culty in leading children to see quantitative relations. 
By the fourth year, however, he thinks that they may 
be taught to count to ten and to note resemblances 
and differences in quantity. To proceed further than 
this would be unprofitable, nay, hurtful, he says, since 
nothing is so difficult to fix in the mind of the young 
child as numbers. Comenius, it would seem, valued 
the study of arithmetic much less highly than modern 
educators. He thought that some geometry might be 
taught during these early years ; children may easily 

1 Note the harmony of this conception of play with the modern 
theories of Professor Karl Groos in his Play of animals (New York, 
1898, pp. 341) and in his Spiele der Menschen (Jena, 1899, pp. 538). 



EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 119 

be trained to perceive the common geometric forms ; 
and the measurements and comparisons involved in 
the perception of such forms train the understanding 
of the child. 

Music is instinctive and natural to the child. Com- 
plaints and wailings are his first lessons in music. It 
is impossible to restrain such complaints and wails ; 
and even if it were possible, it would not be expedient, 
since all such vocalizations exercise the muscles in- 
volved in the production of speech, develop the chest, 
and contribute to the child's general health. Children 
should hear music in their earliest infancy, that their 
ears and minds may be soothed by concord and har- 
mony. He even countenances the banging and rattling 
noises which children are fond of making, on the 
ground that such noises represent legitimate steps in 
the development of the child's musical sense. Give 
them horns, whistles, drums, and rattles, and allow 
them to acquire perceptions of rhythm and melody. 

In the matter of instruction in language, Comenius 
had one fundamental principle — that ideas of things 
must accompany or precede the words which symbol- 
ized the things. In consequence, word training, as 
such, had no place in his schemes of education. When 
children begin to talk, great care must be exercised that 
they articulate distinctly and correctly. The start 
must always be in the mother-tongue. Comenius, it 
will be recalled, was at variance with his contempora- 
ries in deferring instruction in Latin until the child 
was twelve years old. During these early years he 
believes that poetry — and especially jingles and 
nursery rhymes — may be used with great profit in 
aiding children to acquire language. They may not 



120 COMENIUS 

always understand the rhymes, but they are certain to 
be pleased much more by the rhythm of verse than by 
prose. 

Moral and Religious Training 

However much Comenius may have valued mental 
and physical training, the fundamental aim and end 
of all education he regarded as moral and religious. 
The agencies which he would have employed in the 
early moral training of the child are (1) a perpetual 
example of virtuous conduct ; (2) properly timed and 
prudent instruction and exercise ; and (3) well-regulated 
discipline. Children are exceptionally imitative, in 
consequence of which there should be great circum- 
spection in the home in matters of temperance, clean- 
liness, neatness, truthfulness, complaisance, and respect 
for superiors. While lengthened discourses and 
admonitions are not expedient, prudent instruction 
may often accompany examples with profit. 

As to discipline, Comenius thinks that occasionally 
there is need of chastisement in order that children 
may attend to examples of virtue and admonition. 
When other means of discipline have been ineffectual, 
the rod may be used, but only for offences against 
morals — never for stupidity. Comenius gives the 
impression that children may be whipped into being 
good. The influence of the ill-timed advice of Solomon 
is clearly apparent here. 

Temperance and frugality, he thinks, claim the 
first place in the moral training of the child, inasmuch 
as they are the foundations of health and life, and the 
mother of all the virtues. Neatness and cleanliness 
should be exacted from the first j so should respect of 



EARLIEST EDUCATION OF THE CHILD 121 

superiors and elders. Bold and forward children are 
not generally loved. Obedience, like the plant, does 
not spring up spontaneously, but requires years of 
patient care and training to develop into a thing of 
beauty. Truthfulness likewise is no less important; 
so also justice, respect for the rights of others, be- 
nevolence, patience, and civility. 

And most important of the virtues to be acquired 
by the young child is industry. Nothing hinders 
moral growth more than indolence. Comenius agrees 
with the church fathers that Satan's best allies are 
the idle. Children must not be idle. Teach them to 
play, to make things, to do things, to be helpful to 
themselves and useful to others. 

Comenius exaggerated the importance of religious 
training during the child's earliest years. While 
recognizing that reasoning was necessary for the best 
results in religious instruction, he nevertheless over- 
burdens the memory with formal religious instructions. 
Before the child is six years old he is to be taught the 
Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, the Confession of 
Faith, the Ten Commandments, and numerous hymns. 

In spite of his unreasonable demands on the memory, 
most of Comenius' counsels to mothers on the religious 
instruction of their little ones are sane and helpful. 
The spirit of the parents, he rightly suggests, is all 
important in religious instruction ; outward piety is 
not enough. The religious nature unfolds slowly, and 
unusual patience and foresight are required in its 
nurture and development. 

All this training — physical, mental, moral, and 
religious — has been preliminary to the formal training 
in the school, which is to begin in the sixth or seventh 



122 COMENIUS 

year of the child's life. The transition step from the 
home to the school is now to be made ; for jnst " as 
little plants after they have grown up from their seed 
are transplanted into orchards, for their more success- 
ful growth, so it is expedient that children, cherished 
and nurtured in the home, having acquired strength of 
mind and body, should be delivered to the care of 
teachers." 



CHAPTER VIII 

STUDY OF LANGUAGE 

Dominance of Latin in the seventeenth century — Methods of study 
characterized by Comenius. The Janua — Purpose and plan — ■ 
Its success. Atrium and Vestibulum — Their relation to the 
Janua. The Orbis pictus — How conceived — Its popularity — 
Use of pictures. Methodus novissima — Principles of language 
teaching — Function of examples — Place of oral and written 
language in education. 

Recalling that Latin occupied such an exalted place 
in the schools of Comenius' day, it is not at all sur- 
prising that he gave so much attention to the study of 
language. Latin absorbed practically all the energies 
of the pupils, and with results that were far from 
satisfactory. A historian of the period says, " Boys 
and teachers were alike unhappy; great severity of 
discipline was practised, and after all was done, and 
all the years of youth had been spent in the study 
mainly of the Latin, the results were contemptible." 

The study of Latin is thus characterized by Come- 
nius: 

1. The Latin language is taught abstractly with- 
out a knowledge of the things which the words denote. 
Words should be learned in connection with things 
already known ; it is false to conclude that, because 
children know how to utter words, they therefore under- 
stand them. 

2. The second evil in the study of language is driv- 

123 



124 COMENIUS 

ing children into the manifold intricacies of grammar 
from the very first. It is a blunder to plunge them 
into the formal statements of grammar on their first 
begiuning Latin. To make matters worse, the Latin 
grammar is written in Latin. How should we adults 
like it, if, in the study of Arabic, we had a grammar 
written in the Arabic first put into our hands ? 

3. The third evil in the study of language is the 
practice of compelling children to make impossible 
leaps instead of carrying them forward step by step. 
We introduce them from the grammar into Virgil and 
Cicero. The sublimity of poetic style is beyond the 
conception of boys, and the subject-matter of Cicero's 
epistles not easy for grown men. It will be said that 
the object is to place before children a perfect model 
to which they may attain. It is right to aim at a 
perfect model, when the aim is practicable, and if we 
proceed gradually to the highest. But larger things 
are with advantage postponed to lesser things; and 
lesser things, if accommodated to the age of the 
learners, yield greater fruits than large things. If 
Cicero himself were to enter our schools and find boys 
engaged with his works, Comenius believes that he 
would be either amused or indignant. 

Professor Laurie remarks that "when we bear in 
mind the construction of the Latin grammars then in 
use, — that of Alvarus, for example, having five hun- 
dred rules and as many exceptions, — we cannot be 
surprised at the unanimous condemnation of the then 
current methods of teaching, and the almost universal 
lamentation over the wasted years of youth." 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 125 

The Janua 

We are now to see how Comenius proposed to reform 
these evils. " I planned a book," he says, " in which 
all things, the properties of things, and the actions 
and passions of things should be presented, and to 
each should be assigned its proper work, believing 
that in one and the same book the whole connected 
series of things might be surveyed historically, and 
the whole fabric of things and words reduced to one 
continuous context. On mentioning my purpose to 
some friends, one of them directed my attention to 
the Jesuit father's Janua linguarum, and gave me a 
copy. I leaped for joy ; but on examination, I found 
that it did not fulfil my plan." 

The Janua referred to by Comenius was that written 
by William Bateus, an Irish Jesuit, who was spiritual 
father at Salamanca, Spain. His Janua appeared in 
Spain prior to 1605. It contained twelve hundred 
short Latin sentences with accompanying Spanish 
translations. The sentences were made up of common 
Latin root-words, and no word was repeated. In 1615 
an English-Latin edition appeared ; and subsequently 
editions in French, German, and Italian. The object 
of Bateus in the publication of his Janua was to pro- 
mote the spread of Christianity by enabling the heathen 
the more easily to learn to read the Latin. 

It will thus appear that the plan of the Janua lingu- 
arum reserata of Comenius, the book that was destined 
to make his name known throughout the world, was 
not wholly original with the Moravian reformer. The 
name and to some extent the plan of the book had 
been suggested by the publication of the Jesuit. 



126 COMENIUS 

The first edition of Comenius' Janua appeared in 
1631. 1 In the numerous subsequent editions the 
author made important changes and additions. In 
subject-matter, the Janua comprehends the elements 
of aH the sciences and arts. There are a hundred 
chapter headings with a thousand Latin sentences and 
their German equivalents arranged in parallel columns. 
The subjects treated cover a wide range — from the 
origin of the world to the mind and its faculties. The 
first chapter is an introduction, in which the reader is 
saluted, and informed that learning consists in this : 
to know distinctions and names of things. He is 
assured that he will find explained in this little book 
the whole world and the Latin language. If he should 
learn four pages of it by rote, he would find his eyes 
opened to all the liberal arts. 

The second chapter treats of the creation of the 
world, the third of the elements, and the fourth of the 
firmament. In chapters five to thirteen inclusive, fire, 
meteors, water, earth, stones, metals, trees, fruits, 
herbs, and shrubs are treated. Animals occupy the 
next five chapters; and man — his body, external 
members, internal members, qualities and accidents of 
the body, ulcers and wounds, external and internal 
senses, the intellect, affections, and the will — the 
eleven following chapters. Nineteen chapters are 

1 1 am indebted to Dr. William T. Harris for the use of the copy 
of the Janua belonging to the library of the Bureau of Education 
at Washington. It is a handsome Elzevir, bound in vellum, and 
published at Amsterdam in 1661. It contains 863 pages, 511 of 
which are given to the thousand parallel sentences in the five lan- 
guages (Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German) , in which the 
book appears. The remaining 352 pages are given to the lexicon- 
vocabularies in the different languages. 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 127 

given to the mechanic arts. Twenty-one chapters deal 
with the house and its parts, marriage, the family, 
civic and state economy. Twelve chapters are assigned 
to grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, 
and the other branches of knowledge, describing briefly 
what they are ; and ethics gets twelve chapters, a 
chapter being devoted to each of the twelve virtues. 
In the four succeeding chapters, games, death, burial, 
and the providence of God and the angels are treated. 
Chapter ninety -nine treats of the end of the world ; and 
in the one-hundredth chapter Comenius gives some 
farewell advice, and takes leave of his reader. 

Each chapter of the Janua is to be read ten times. 
In the first reading there is to be an accurate transla- 
tion into the vernacular; at the second reading the 
whole is to be written out, Latin and vernacular, and 
the teacher is to begin conversation in the Latin 
tongue. At the third reading the teacher is to read 
the Latin aloud, and the pupils are to translate into the 
vernacular without seeing the printed page. At the 
fourth reading the grammar is to be written out and 
the words parsed. Special attention is to be given to 
the derivation of words at the fifth reading ; the syno- 
nyms to be explained at the sixth ; and the grammati- 
cal rules applied at the seventh. At the eighth reading 
the pupils are to learn the text by heart. The ninth 
reading is to be devoted to a logical analysis of the 
subject-matter; and the tenth and last reading is to be 
conducted by the pupils themselves. They are to 
challenge one another to repeat portions of the text. 

In this ingenious manner Comenius applies his long- 
cherished pansophic theories to language teaching, the 
Janua being an application of ideas formulated in the 



128 COMENIUS 

Great didactic. It is, however, more than an applica- 
tion of pansophie notions — it is an attempt to realize 
his oft-enunciated educational maxim that words and 
things should never be divorced, that knowledge of 
the language should go hand in hand with the knowl- 
edge of the things explained. 

The success of the Janaa was most unexpected, and 
no one was more surprised at its sudden popularity 
than Comenius himself. " That happened," he writes, 
"which I could not have imagined, namely, that this 
childish book was received with universal approbation 
by the learned world. This was shown me by the 
number of men who wished me hearty success with 
my new discovery; and by the number of translations 
into foreign languages. For, not only was the book 
translated into twelve European languages, since I 
myself have seen these translations (Latin, Greek, Bo- 
hemian, Polish, German, Swedish, Dutch, English, 
French, Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian), but also into 
the Asiatic languages — Arabic, Turkish, and Persian 
— and even into the Mongolian, which is understood 
by all the East Indies." 

The Janua, more than any other book that he wrote, 
made Comenius , name familiar to scholars throughout 
the world, and for more than a century it was the most 
popular secondary-school text-book in use. How came 
this book to confer on its author such world-wide 
fame ? " Partly," answers Eaumer, "from the pleasure 
found in the survey of the whole world, adapted both 
to young and old, and at a day when no great scientific 
requirements were made. Many were amused by the 
motley variety of the imaginations and investigations 
of the book ; by its old-fashioned grammatical, didactic, 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 129 

and rhetorical discussions, and its spiritual extrava- 
gances. The greatest influence was, however, exerted 
by the fundamental maxim of the book — that the 
knowledge of a language, and especially of the Latin, 
should go hand in hand with a knowledge of the things 
explained in it." x 

Atrium and Vestibulum 

The Janua was followed in 1633 by the Atrium. It 
contains 427 short sentences somewhat more amplified 
than in the Janua. In the introduction the teacher 
promises to initiate the pupil into the mysteries of 
wisdom, the knowledge of all things, the ability to do 
right always, and to speak correctly of everything, 
especially in Latin, which, as a common language to 
all nations, is indispensable to a complete education. 
The foundation of things is laid in the Vestibulum 
(subsequently published) ; the Janua furnishes the 
materials for the building ; and the Atrium provides 
the decorations. With the completion of these, pupils 
may confer with the wisest authors through their 
books, and through this reading they may become 
learned, wise, and eloquent. 

The second part treats of substantives, as the classi- 
fication of things ; the third part of adjectives, as the 
modification of things; the fourth part explains pro- 
nouns ; in the fifth part verbs are introduced ; the 
sixth part discusses adverbs, the seventh part preposi- 
tions, the eighth part conjunctions, and the ninth part 
interjections. The tenth part contains examples of 

1 The Janua has lately been brought out in France in inexpen- 
sive form by Professor A. C. Vernier of the College of Autun. (Au- 
tun, 1899. pp. 350.) 



130 COMENIUS 

the derivation of words. The Atrium was intended as 
a simplified Latin grammar to be used with the graded 
system of language teaching outlined by Comenius. 

The Vestibulum, although written and published 
after the Janua and Atrium, was intended as a first 
book or Latin primer. The Janua was found to be 
too difficult for the younger learners, and so this sim- 
ple book was composed during his sojourn at Saros- 
Patak. The sentences were abbreviated, and they deal 
with simple things. The following are the chapter 
headings: {1) Concerning the accidents or qualities of 
things; (2) Concerning the actions and passions of 
things; (3) The circumstances of things; (4) Things 
in the school ; (5) Things at home ; (6) Things in the 
city; (7) Concerning the virtues. He expresses regret 
that he is unable to illustrate the text of the Vestibulum 
with cuts to amuse the pupils and enable them the 
better to remember, but says that he could find no 
artists competent to do the required illustrative work. 
He urges the teachers to supply the want of such cuts 
by explanations of the things, or by showing the things 
themselves. Without some such devices, the instruc- 
tion must necessarily be lifeless. "The parallelism 
of the knowledge of words and things is the deepest 
secret of the method." 

Orbis Pictus 

The idea of the use of pictures in elementary school 
work was suggested to Comenius by Professor Lubinus, 
of Eostock, who edited in 1614 a Greek testament in 
three languages. He suggested reforms in the simpli- 
fication of language instruction, and advised the con- 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 131 

struction of a book containing pictures of things, with 
a certain number of brief sentences attached to each, 
until all the words and phrases of Latin were exhausted. 

While at Saros-Patak, he carried into effect the desires 
set forth in the Vestibulum with reference to an illus- 
trated child's first Latin reader, although the book was 
not printed until some years later, because of unex- 
pected difficulty in finding a skilful engraver in copper. 
In a letter to Michel Endter, of Nuremberg, who sub- 
sequently published the Orbis pictus, Comenius wrote 
in 1655: "It may be observed that many of our chil- 
dren grow weary of their books, because they are over- 
filled with things which have to be explained by the 
help of words. The pupils, and often the teachers 
themselves, know next to nothing about the things." 

The Orbis pictus was first published at Nuremberg 
in 1657 ; and, although the Janua had been received 
with well-nigh universal favor, its popularity was sur- 
passed by the illustrated book. I have no means of 
knowing how many editions of the Orbis pictus have 
appeared during the last two hundred and fifty years. 
I have myself seen twelve different editions in the 
British Museum, Comenius-Stif tung, library of Harvard 
University, and elsewhere. These are: Nuremberg, 
1657, Latin-German; London, 1658, Latin-English; 
Amsterdam, 1673, Latin-Dutch-German; Nuremberg, 
1679, Latin-German-Italian-Erench ; London, 1727, 
Latin-English ; Nuremberg, 1746, Latin-German ; Lon- 
don, 1777, Latin-German ; St. Petersburg, 1808, Latin- 
Russian-Gerrnan ; New York, 1810, Latin-English; 
Wroctawin, 1818, Latin-Polish-Erench-German ; Ko- 
nigsgratz, 1883, Latin-Bohemian-German-French ; Sy- 
racuse, 1887, Latin-English. 



132 COMENIUS 

The purpose of the Orbis pictus, as indicated by 
Conienius in the preface, was : 

1. To entice witty children to learn ; for it is appar- 
ent that children, even from their infancy, are de- 
lighted with pictures and willingly please their eyes 
with them. And it will be very well worth the pains 
to have once brought it to pass that scarecrows may 
be taken away out of wisdom's gardens. 

2. This same little book will serve to stir up the 
attention, which is to be fastened upon things, and 
even to he sharpened more and more, which is also an 
important matter. For the senses being the main 
guides of childhood (because therein the mind does not 
as yet rise to an abstract contemplation of things), they 
must evermore seek their own objects; if the objects 
are not present, the senses grow dull and flit hither 
and thither out of weariness. But when the objects 
are present, they grow merry, wax lively, and willingly 
surfer themselves to be fastened upon them till the 
things be sufficiently discerned. This book, then, will 
do a good piece of service in taking flickering wits and 
preparing them for deeper studies. 

3. Children being thus interested and the attention 
attracted, they may be furnished with the knowledge 
of the most important things by sport and merry pas- 
time. In a word, this book will add pleasure to the use 
of the Vestibulum and Janua, for which end it was at 
the first chiefly intended. The accounts of the things 
being given in the mother-tongue, the book promises 
three good things : (1) It will afford a device for learn- 
ing to read more easily than hitherto, especially having 
a symbolical alphabet set before it, with pictures of 
the voices [creatures] to be imitated. The young ABC 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 133 

pupils will easily remember the force of every char- 
acter by looking at the creatures, and the imagination 
will be strengthened. Having looked over a table of 
the chief syllables, the children may proceed to view 
the pictures and the inscriptions set under them. 
Simply looking upon the object pictured will suggest 
the name of the object and tell how the picture is to 
be read. Thus the whole book being gone over by the 
bare use of the pictures, reading cannot but be learned. 
(2) The book being used in the vernacular will serve 
for the perfect learning of the mother-tongue. (3) The 
learning of the vernacular words will serve as a plea- 
sant introduction to the Latin tongue. 

The Orbis pictus was translated for use in English 
schools in 1658 by Charles Hoole, a London school- 
master. He observes in his introduction: "There are 
few of you (I think) but have seen, and with great 
willingness have made use of (or at least pursued), 
many of the books of this well-deserving author, Mr. 
John Comenius, which, for their profitableness to the 
speedy attainment of a language, have been translated 
into several countries, out of Latin into their native 
tongue. Now the general verdict (after trial made) 
that hath passed, touching those formerly extant, is 
this, that they are indeed of singular use, and very 
advantageous to those of more discretion (especially of 
such as already have a smattering of Latin) to help 
their memories to retain what they have scatteringly 
gotten here and there, to furnish them with many 
words, which (perhaps) they have not formerly read, 
or so well observed ; but to young children (whom we 
have chiefly to instruct), as to those that are ignorant 
altogether of things and words, and prove rather a 



134 COMENIUS 

mere toil and burden, than a delight and furtherance. 
For to pack up many words in memory of things not 
conceived in the mind, is to fill the head with empty 
imaginations, and to make the learner more to admire 
the multitude and variety (and thereby to become dis- 
couraged) than to care to treasure them up in hopes to 
gain more knowledge of what they mean." 

The first lesson in the Orbis pictus is a dialogue 
between a teacher and a pupil. The former says, 
" Come, boy, learn to be wise." Whereupon the latter 
asks, "What doth this mean?" The master makes 
reply, " To understand rightly, to do rightly, and to 
speak rightly all that are necessary." The boy asks 
who will teach him these things, to which the master 
makes reply, "I, by God's help, will guide thee 
through all. I will show thee all; I will name thee 
all." To all this the boy makes eager response : " See, 
here I am. Lead me in the name of God." The mas- 
ter concludes the dialogue with this injunction: 
"Before all things thou oughtest to learn the plain 
sounds of which man's speech consisteth, which living 
creatures know how to make, and thy tongue knoweth 
how to imitate, and thy hand can picture out. After- 
ward we will go into the world, and we will view all 
things." Mr. Maxwell 1 thus characterizes this intro- 
duction and the picture that illustrates it : " The boy, 
a plump but not a pleasing person, and the master, a 
man < severe ' and ' stern to view,' who has evidently 
all the frowns and none of the jokes of Goldsmith's 
schoolmaster. They are conversing on a barren plain, 
the only other living thing in sight being a wild ani- 

1 The text-books of Comenius. Proceedings of the National 
Educational Association for 1892. pp. 712-723. 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 135 

mal apparently of some extinct species. In the back- 
ground are a village church, of the regulation pattern, 
the roofs of houses, and a couple of pyramids which 
are intended for mountains." 

The introduction is followed by an illustrated lesson 
on the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, with a 
picture and statement (in the vernacular and Latin) 
of the sounds made by animals. The crow illustrates 
the sound of a, the statement in the English being, " The 
crow crieth " ; in the Latin, Comix cornicatur. A 
lamb illustrates the sound of b, the statement being, 
" The lamb bleateth " (Latin, Agnus balat). And so on 
through the alphabet. This is what Comenius calls 
" a lively and vocal alphabet." 

Like the Jayiua, the subjects treated in the Orbis 
pictus cover a wide range of topics. Their character 
may be indicated by the following citations of chapter 
headings : God, the world, the heavens, fire, the air, 
the water, the clouds, the earth, the fruits of the earth, 
metals, stones, trees, fruits of trees, flowers, potherbs, 
corn, shrubs, birds, tame fowls, singing birds, birds 
that haunt the fields and woods, ravenous birds, water- 
fowls, ravenous vermin, animals about the house, herd- 
cattle, laboring beasts, wild cattle, wild beasts, ser- 
pents and creeping things, crawling vermin, creatures 
that live as well by water as by land, river-fish and 
pond-fish, sea-fish and shell-fish, man, the seven ages 
of man, the outward parts of man, the head and the 
hand, the flesh and bowels, the charnels and bones, the 
outward and inward senses, the soul of man, deformed 
and monstrous people, dressing of gardens, husbandry, 
grazing, grinding, bread-making, fishing, fowling, 
hunting, butchery, cookery, the vintage, brewing, a 



136 COMENIUS 

feast, and so on to the one hundred and fifty-first 
chapter, in which the first illustration is reproduced 
with this benediction by the master: "Thus thou 
hast seen in short all things that can be shewed, and 
hast learned the chief words of the Latin and mother- 
tongue. Go on now and read other good books dili- 
gently, and thou shalt become learned, wise and 
godly. Remember these things : Fear God and call 
upon him that he may bestow upon thee the spirit of 
wisdom. Farewell." 

Under the pictures illustrating each chapter follows 
the descriptions in the vernacular and the Latin. The 
following on the school may be taken as characteristic 
of the book : — 

A school (1) Schola (1) 

is a shop in which young wits est officina in qua novelli animi 

are fashioned to virtue, and it formantur ad virtutem & dis- 

is distinguished into classes. tinguitur in classes. 

The master (2) Prseceptor (2) 

sits in a chair (3) sedet in cathedra (3) 

the scholars (4) discipuli (4) 

in forms (5) in subselliis (5) 

he teaches, they learn. ille docet, hi discunt. 

Some things are writ down Qusedam prse scribuntur illis 

before them with chalk on a creta in tabella. (6) 
table. (6) 

Some sit Quidam sedent 

at a table and write (7) ad mensam & scribunt (7), 

he mendeth their faults (8) ipse corrigit mendas (8). 

Some stand and rehearse Quidam stant & recitant 

things committed to memory mandata memoriae (9). 
(9). 

Some talk together (10) and Quidam confabulantur (10) 

behave themselves wantonly ac gerunt se petulantes & neg- 

and carelessly ; these are chas- ligentes ; hi castigantur 

tised with a ferrula (11) ferula (baculo) (11) 

and a rod (12) & virga (12). 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 137 

The braced figures refer to the objects numbered 
in the cut ; for example, a group of students convers- 
ing together in the illustration is marked 10 in the 
cut and in the text. The purpose of Comenius, it 
should be noted in passing, was primarily to teach the 
vernacular through things and the representation of 
things ; although he had no objection to the learning 
of the Latin with the vernacular. His aim, as stated 
by himself, "That instruction may progress without 
hindrance, and neither learning nor teaching delay, 
since what is printed in words may be brought before 
the eyes by sight, and thus the mind may be in- 
structed without error." 

" Primer though it be," says G. Stanley Hall, " the 
Orbis pictus sheds a broad light over the whole field 
of education." Compayre remarks, " It was the first 
practical application of the intuitive method, and has 
served as a model for the innumerable illustrated 
books which for three centuries have invaded the 
schools." And Eaumer, who is little given to praise 
of Comenius and his schemes, adds, " The Orbis pictus 
was the forerunner of future development, and had for 
its object, not merely the introduction of an indistinct 
painted world into the school, but, as much as possible, 
a knowledge of the original world itself, by actual 
intercourse with it." 

Professor Laurie is doubtless right when he says 
that Comenius knew little psychology — scarcely more 
than the generalizations of Plato and Aristotle, and 
these not strictly investigated by himself. Yet who 
can read these lines in the preface of the Orbis pictus, 
" This little book will serve to stir up the attention, 
which is to be fastened upon things, and ever to be 



138 COMENIUS 

sharpened more and more; for the senses ever more 
seek their own objects, and when the objects are 
present, they grow merry, wax lively, and willingly 
suffer themselves to be fastened upon them, until the 
things are sufficiently discerned " — who can read these 
lines, and reflect upon the manner in which volitional 
attention operates in the higher spheres of thought and 
emotion, and say that Comenius was altogether igno- 
rant of the psychological law that the power of the will 
over the attention of little children is largely a matter 
of automatic fixation, depending upon the attractive- 
ness of the objects that affect the senses. 

Methodus Novissima 

While residing at Elbing, Comenius wrote the 
Methodus novissima for the use of the teachers of 
Sweden. This he intended as a plan of studies, and it 
contains the principles which must lie at the basis of 
every rational course of study. The three principles 
of his method are the parallelism of things and words, 
proper stages of succession, and easy natural progress. 
In God are the ideas, the original types which he 
impresses upon things; things, again, impress their 
representation upon the senses, the senses impart 
them to the mind, the mind to the tongue, and the 
tongue to the ears of others; for souls shut up in 
bodies cannot understand each other in a purely 
intellectual way. 

Any language is complete in so far as it possesses a 
full nomenclature, has words for everything, — and 
these significant and consistent, — and is constructed 
in accordance with fixed grammatical laws. It is a 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 139 

source of error when things accommodate themselves 
to words, instead of words to things. The same 
classification prevails for words as for things; and 
whoever understands the relation of words among 
themselves will, the more easily, study the analogous 
relations among things. 

Vives thought that the most complete language 
would be that in which the words express the nature 
of things, and Comenius believed that there could be 
composed a real language in which each word should 
be a definition. 

To be able to represent a thing by the mind, hand, 
or tongue is to understand it. The mental process 
involved consists of representations and images of the 
pictures of things. If, says Comenius, I perceive a 
thing by the senses, its image is impressed upon my 
brain ; if I represent a thing, I impress its image upon 
the material; but if I express in words the thing 
which I have thought of or represented, I impress it 
upon the atmosphere, and through it upon the ear, 
brain, and mind of another. 

Things are learned by examples, rules, and practice. 
Before the understanding, truth must be held up as 
an example; before the will, the good; before the 
forming powers, the ideal ; and to these must be 
added practice regulated by suitable rules. But rules 
should not be given before the examples. This 
is well understood by artisans; they do not begin 
by lecturing to their apprentices upon trades, but by 
showing them how masters work and then by putting 
tools in their hands and training them to imitate 
their masters. We learn to do by doing, to write 
by writing, and to paint by painting. 



140 COMENIUS 

The second step must never be taken until the first 
is learned ; and the first step should be repeated and 
assimilated with the second step. We should advance 
from the easy to the more difficult, from the near to 
the more distant, and from the simple to the complex. 
Proceed toward knowledge by the perception and 
understanding of objects present to the senses, and 
later to the information of others about the objects. 

The attention should be fixed upon one object at a 
time ; first upon the whole, then upon the parts. The 
understanding should compare the objects being per- 
ceived with similar objects previously observed. The 
memory has three offices : to receive impressions, to 
retain impressions, and to recall impressions. Keten- 
tion will be made easier by repetition, and recollection 
by the association of perceived relations. The young- 
est children should be instructed by means of visible 
objects, and pictures impress themselves most firmly 
upon the memory. 

Teachers who are themselves intellectually quick 
must avoid impatience. The pupils who learn the 
quickest are not always the best ; and the dulness of 
the pupils must be supplemented by the teacher's 
industry. Learning will be easy to pupils if teachers 
manage them in a friendly way and study the dispo- 
sition of each child. Children must not only be made 
to look at their lessons, but to enter into the spirit of 
the subject under consideration. 

We should remember that schools are the workshops 
of humanity ; and that they should work their pupils 
into the right and skilful use of their reason, speech, 
and talents — into wisdom, eloquence, readiness, and 
shrewdness. Thus will the teachers shape these little 



STUDY OF LANGUAGE 141 

images of God, or, rather, fill up the outlines of good- 
ness, power, and wisdom impressed upon them by 
divine power. The art of teaching is no shallow 
affair, but one of the deepest mysteries of nature and 
salvation. 



CHAPTER IX 

INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON MODERN EDUCATORS 

Francke — Early educational undertakings — The institution at 
Halle — Character of the psedagogium — Impulse given to modern 
learning. Rousseau — The child the centre of educational 
schemes — Sense training fundamental — Order and method of 
nature to be followed. Basedow — Protests against traditional 
methods — Influenced by the Emile — His educational writings — 
The Philanthropinum. Pestalozzi — Love the key-note of his 
system — Domestic education — Education for all classes and 
sexes — The study of nature — Impulse given to the study of 
geography. Frobel — His relations to Comenius and Pestalozzi — 
Educational value of play and principle of self -activity — Women 
as factors in education. Herbart — Assimilation of sense- 
experience — Training of character — Doctrine of interest. 

It is less easy to trace the influence of Comenius on 
modern educational reformers than to indicate the 
traces of his pedagogic development, since he read 
widely and credited cheerfully the paternity of his 
educational ideals. He says in this connection: "I 
gave my mind to the perusal of divers authors, and 
lighted upon many which at this age have made a 
beginning in reforming the method of studies, as 
Ratke, Helwig, Rheinus, Bitter, Glaum, Csecil, and, 
who indeed should have the first place, John Valentine 
Andreas, a man of noble and clear brain ; as also Cam- 
panella and the Lord Verulani, those famous restorers 
of philosophy ; by reading of whom I was raised in 
good hope, that at last those so many various sparks 
would conspire into a flame ; yet observing here and 
142 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 143 

there some defects and gaps, I could not contain 
myself from attempting something that might rest 
upon an immovable foundation, and which, if it could 
be once foundfr out, should not be subject to any ruin. 
Therefore, after many workings and tossings of my 
thoughts, by reducing everything to the immovable 
laws of nature, I lighted upon my Great didactic, 
which shows the art of teaching all things to all men." 
Such commendable frankness is not always found in 
the reformers that follow Comenius ; but in their writ- 
ings it is not difficult to discern community of ideas 
first definitely formulated by Comenius. This holds 
true in a degree of all reformers since Comenius' day, 
but in a measure sufficiently large to require passing 
note in Francke, Rousseau, Basedow Pestalozzi, Frobel, 
and Herbart. 

Francke 1 

Of a profoundly religious nature like Comenius, 
Francke applied himself to the study of theology at the 
Universities of Kiel and Leipzig, after having studied 
at Erfurt. The listless and heartless character of the 
teaching and study at these institutions impressed him 
profoundly, and directed his attention to the need of 
educational reform. Four years after taking his degree 
at Leipzig (1688), he established an infant school at 
Hamburg, which, though brief, was, as he tells us, the 
richest and happiest experience of his long and varied 
career. It taught him the lesson which he thought 
was needed alike by himself and his contemporaries — 

1 For a full account of Francke's life and work see A. H. Francke's 
Padagogische Schriften. Nebst einer Darstellung seines Lebens 
und seiner Stiftungen. Herausgeg. von G. Kramer. Langensalza, 
1876. 



144 COMENIUS 

that teachers of little children entered upon their work 
with altogether too little preparation. He says, " Upon 
the establishment of this school, I learned how destruc- 
tive is the usual school management, aneL how exceed- 
ingly difficult is the discipline of children ; and this 
reflection made me desire that God would make me 
worthy to do something for the improvement of schools 
and instruction." 

He received an ecclesiastical call to Erfurt, which he 
accepted, but his orthodoxy was questioned and he was 
not permitted to fill the office to which he had been 
appointed. The foundation of the University of Halle, 
in 1691, made an opening for him in the chair of 
Greek and Oriental languages. While serving in this 
capacity, he organized the philanthropic institution 
which has made Halle famous. It began as a charity 
work among the poor, and grew to such proportions 
that at his death, in 1727, — thirty -three years after 
its inception, — it included (1) the psedagogium with 
eighty-two students and seventy teachers and pupil- 
teachers ; (2) the Latin school of the orphanage with 
three inspectors, thirty-two teachers, four hundred 
pupils, and ten servants; (3) elementary schools in 
Halle for the children of citizens, employing four 
inspectors, ninety-eight male and eight female teach- 
ers, and having an enrollment of one thousand and 
twenty -five children; (4) apothecary shops and book- 
stores. As a charity school, tranche's institution 
became the model of hundreds organized in Europe 
during the next century. 

The psedagogium, which was a part of the great 
philanthropic institution, was opened in 1696, as a 
select school for the sons of noblemen. It was one 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 145 

of the earliest training schools for teachers, and the 
forerunner of university pedagogical seminaries, 
which, in Germany at least, serve as training schools 
for teachers in secondary schools. Francke aimed to 
fit young men, and particularly university students, 
in the faculties of philosophy and theology, for greater 
usefulness as teachers. Indeed, much of the teaching 
in the paedagogium was done by the university stu- 
dents who contemplated teaching careers. Besides the 
practice work, instruction was given in the history 
and theory of education, methods of teaching, and 
school organization and government. Francke's paeda- 
gogium was a worthy progenitor of the long line of 
renowned university seminaries which are now inte- 
gral factors of the German universities, such, for 
example, as the deservedly noted pedagogical semi- 
nary at Jena under the direction of Professor Wilhelm 
Rein, and the not less noted pedagogical seminaries at 
Leipzig under Professors Volkelt, Schiller, and Eichter. 
Like Comenius, Francke valued less the classical 
culture, but more the modern learning which fitted for 
the duties of life. "It is a common evil/ 7 he says, 
" that we do not teach what we use in our occupations 
every day." This led him to give large consideration 
to the study of the mother-tongue. " I find few uni- 
versity students, " he says, " who can write a German 
letter correctly spelled. They violate orthography in 
almost every line. I know of many examples where, 
after they have entered upon the ministry and have 
had occasion to have something printed, it has been 
necessary to have their manuscripts first corrected in 
almost every line. The reason for this defect is usu- 
ally in the schools, where only the Latin translation 



146 COMENIUS 

of their exercises is corrected, but not the German." 
In many ways he labored to actualize the larger idea 
of education which Comenius had outlined in the 
Great didactic. 

Rousseau 

While he does not mention Comenius by name, even 
a cursory reading of the Emile 1 furnishes abundant 
evidence of Eousseau's familiarity with the writings 
of the Moravian reformer, if not at first hand, then 
through the writings of others. At any rate, some 
striking parallels are suggested in a comparative study 
of the writings of the two reformers. As summarized 
by Mr. Davidson, 2 Rousseau's educational demands 
are threefold : (1) the demand that children should, 
from the moment of their birth, be allowed complete 
freedom of movement; (2) that they should be edu- 
cated through direct experience, and not through mere 
information derived from books ; (3) that they should 
be taught to use their hands in the production of use- 
ful articles. These demands, it will be recalled, were 
also made by Comenius in one form or another. 

Comenius and Bousseau both emphasized the fact 
that school systems must be made for children, and 
not children for school systems. Neither reformer 
shared the schoolmaster's customary contempt for 

1 An abbreviated translation of tbe Emile has been made by Miss 
Eleanor Worthington (Boston: D. C. Heath & Co., 1891, pp. 157), 
and a fuller (though not complete) translation by Professor William 
H. Payne (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1893. pp. 355). 

2 Rousseau and education according to nature. By Thomas 
Davidson. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898. pp. 253. 
Also the excellent life by John Morley, in two volumes (London and 
New York, 1888). 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 147 

childhood, but both urged that childhood must be 
studied and loved to be understood and trained, and 
both, if they had lived in the nineteenth and twentieth 
centuries, would have been enthusiastic advocates of 
child study. Says Rousseau : " We do not understand 
childhood, and pursuing false ideas of it, our every 
step takes us farther astray. The wisest among us 
fix upon what it concerns men to know, without ever 
considering what children are capable of learning. 
They always expect to find the man in the child, with- 
out thinking of what the child is before it is a man. 
. . . We never know how to put ourselves in the 
place of children ; we do not enter into their ideas ; 
we attribute to them our own; and following always 
our own train of thought, even with syllogisms, we 
manage to fill their heads with nothing but extrava- 
gance and error. ... I wish some discreet person 
would give us a treatise on the art of observing chil- 
dren — an art which would be of immense value to us, 
but of which parents and teachers have not as yet 
learnt the very rudiments." 

Sense training was fundamental in Comenius , 
scheme of primary education. Nature studies — 
plants, animals, and minerals — were introduced from 
the first, that the child might early cultivate his 
powers of observation, and form the habit of acquiring 
knowledge at first hand. Eousseau likewise lays 
great stress on sense training. " The faculties which 
become strong in us," he says, " are our senses. These, 
then, are the first that should be cultivated ; they are, 
in fact, the only faculties we forget, or at least those 
which we neglect most completely. The child wants 
to touch and handle everything. By no means check 



148 COMENIUS 

this restlessness; it points to a very necessary appren- 
ticeship. Thus it is that the child gets to be conscious 
of the hotness or coldness, the hardness or softness, 
the heaviness or lightness of bodies, to judge of their 
size and shape and all their sensible properties by 
looking, feeling, listening, especially by comparing 
sight and touch, and combining the sensations of the 
eye with those of the fingers." 

Comenius, Eousseau, and, in fact, all the realists 
from Bacon to Herbert Spencer, have emphasized the 
thought that education should follow the order and 
method of nature; though, as Professor Payne sug- 
gests, it is not always easy to form a clear notion of 
what they mean by nature, when they say that educa- 
tion should be natural, and that teachers should follow 
the method of nature. The key-note of Eousseau's 
theory, as expressed in the opening paragraph of the 
Emile, is that " everything is good as it comes from 
the hands of the author of nature, but everything 
degenerates in the hands of man." Mr. Davidson 
points out in his study of Eousseau that the air was 
full of nature panaceas during the middle years of the 
eighteenth century, and that these were applied alike 
to social, political, and educational institutions. He 
says : " The chief of these notions were (1) a state of 
nature as man's original condition — a state conceived 
sometimes as one of goodness, peace, freedom, equality, 
and happiness, sometimes as one of badness, war, 
slavery, inequality, and misery; (2) a law of nature 
independent of all human enactment, and yet binding 
upon all men; (3) a social contract, voluntarily and 
consciously made, as the basis of justification for civil 
society and authority — a contract by which men 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 149 

united for the protection of rights and the enforce- 
ment of laws which had existed already in the state 
of nature; (4) false inequality among men, as due to 
private property, or the usurpation by some of what, 
by natural right, belonged to all; (5) a peaceful, 
untroubled, unenterprising, unstruggling existence as 
the normal form of human life.' 7 

While less sane, less practical, less comprehensive 
in his educational views than Comenius, it can scarcely 
be said that he was less influential. Differing in many 
important particulars, a common ideal permeates the 
writings of the two reformers — an unbounded faith 
in the possibilities of youth, and a deep conviction that 
it is the business of teachers to view the world and 
nature from the standpoint of young and growing 
children, and to cling with less tenacity to points of 
view established by antiquity and convention. 

Basedoto 

While resembling Eousseau more than Comenius in 
temperament and character, as well as in educational 
ideals, there is yet much in Basedow's educational 
scheme that recalls the Moravian reformer. Born at 
Hamburg, in 1727, he experienced, like Eousseau, an 
unhappy childhood, and, like Comenius, received a 
belated education. He prepared for the University of 

1 To except the brief sketch by Quick {Educational reformers, 
pp. 273-289) and von Raumer's sketch in translation in Barnard's 
American Journal of Education (Vol.5, pp. 487-520) , there is dearth 
of material on Basedow in English. For an excellent account in 
the German see Pddagogische Schriften. Mit Einleitungen, An- 
merkungen, und Basedow's Biographie. Herausgegeben von Hugo 
Goring. Langensalza, 1879-80. 



150 COMENIUS 

Leipzig at the Hamburg gymnasium; but at both 
institutions lie rebelled against the traditional meth- 
ods of instruction. After completing the course in 
theology at Leipzig, it was found that he had grown 
too heterodox for ordination, and he engaged himself 
as a private tutor to a gentleman in Holstein. 
Remarkable success attended his labors as a teacher. 
He studied his children, adapted subject-matter to 
their capacities, and made extensive use of conversa- 
tional methods. This experience secured him an 
appointment in Denmark, where he taught for eight 
years. But his essays on Methodical instruction in 
natural and Biblical religion disturbed alike the seren- 
ity of the Danish clergy and schoolmasters, and 
he was released and called to the gymnasium at 
Altoona, where he encountered opposition no less 
pronounced. 

Rousseau's Emile appeared at this time, and it 
influenced him powerfully. He renewed his attacks on 
contemporary educational practices; charged universal 
neglect of physical education and the mother-tongue; 
criticised the schools for devoting so much time to the 
study of Latin and Greek, and for the mechanical and 
uninteresting methods employed in teaching these 
languages; and admonished society for neglecting to 
instruct the children of the poor and middle classes. 
Raumer, who is no admirer of Basedow, admits the 
justice of the charges. He says: "Youth was in 
those days for most children a sadly harassed period. 
Instruction was hard and heartlessly severe. Gram- 
mar was caned into the memory; so were portions of 
Scripture and poetry. A common form of school pun- 
ishment was to learn by heart the One Hundred and 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 151 

Nineteenth Psalm. Schoolrooms were dismally dark. 
No one conceived it possible that the young could find 
pleasure in any kind of work, or that they had eyes for 
aught but reading and writing. The pernicious age 
of Louis XIV had inflicted on the children of the 
upper class hair curled by the barber and messed with 
powder and pomade, braided coats, knee breeches, 
silk stockings, and a dagger by the side — for active, 
lively children a perfect torture." 

The publication, in 1774, of his Elementary book 
with plates and his Book of methods for parents and 
teachers, formulated and brought to public notice his 
views on education. The Elementary book with plates 
followed closely the lines of Comenius, and it has 
often been called the Orbis pictus of the eighteenth 
century. The purpose of the book was clearly ency- 
clopaedic. As stated by himself, his aims were: 
(1) elementary instruction in the knowledge of words 
and things; (2) an incomparable method, founded 
upon experience, of teaching children to read without 
weariness or loss of time; (3) natural knowledge; 

(4) knowledge of morals, the mind, and reasoning; 

(5) a thorough and impressive method of instructing 
in natural religion, and for a description of beliefs so 
impartial that it shall not appear of what belief is the 
writer himself; (6) knowledge of social duties and 
commerce. The work was published in four volumes 
and illustrated by one hundred plates. 

The Book of methods presents the root-ideas of 
Comenius and Kousseau. In it he says : " You should 
attend to nature in your children far more than to art. 
The elegant manners and usages of the world are, for 
the most part, unnatural. These come of themselves 



152 COMENIUS 

in later years. Treat children like children, that they 
may remain the longer uncorrupted. A boy whose 
acutest faculties are his senses, and who has no per- 
ception of anything abstract, must first of all be made 
acquainted with the world as it presents itself to the 
senses. Let this be shown him in nature herself, or, 
where this is impossible, in faithful drawings or 
models. Thereby can he, even in play, learn how the 
various objects are to be named. Comenius alone has 
pointed out the right road in this matter. By all 
means reduce the wretched exercises of the memory." 
The institution which carried Basedow's educational 
theories into practice was the Philanthropinum at 
Dessau, which became both famous arid notorious in 
the days of the founder, and exercised, withal, a 
powerful influence on the pedagogy of Germany and 
Switzerland during the last quarter of the eighteenth 
and the first half of the nineteenth century. What- 
ever may have been its faults, it had the merit of 
looking at education from a more modern standpoint. 
With the conviction that the final word had not been 
spoken on pedagogy, Basedow boldly determined to 
find new methods of approach to the child's mind. 
As an experiment the Philanthropinum was both inter- 
esting and suggestive. Kant, who recognizes this 
aspect of its utility, says: "It was imagined that 
experiments in education were not necessary; but this 
was a great mistake. Experience shows very often 
that results are produced precisely the opposite to 
those which had been expected. We also see from 
experiments that one generation cannot work out a 
complete plan of education. The only experimental 
school which has made a beginning toward breaking 



INFLUENCE OE COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 153 

the path is the institution at Dessau. Whatever its 
faults, this praise must be given it: It is the only 
school in which teachers have had the liberty to work 
out their own methods and plans, and where they 
stood in connection, not only with each other, but with 
men of learning throughout all Germany." 

In subjects taught, as well as in methods of teach- 
ing, Basedow followed Comenius in the main. Words 
were taught in connection with things; object teach- 
ing occupied an important place ; pictures were exten- 
sively used; children were first taught to speak and 
later to write in foreign languages; German and 
French held positions of honor ; arithmetic, geometry, 
geography, and natural history were all taught; great 
attention was given to the physical development of 
the children, and play was considered as important as 
Latin; school hours were shortened; the discipline 
was much less severe; and the children were allowed 
and permitted to take degrees of freedom altogether 
unheard of before Basedow's day. 

Pestalozzi 1 

Pestalozzi was not widely read in the literature of 
education ; in fact, the Emile was about the only such 
book he ever read, as he himself tells us. It is, 

1 There is a wealth of material in the English language on Pesta- 
lozzi. See: Pestalozzi and the modern elementary school, by Pro- 
fessor A. Pinloche (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1900); 
Pestalozzi: his life and work, by Roger de Guimps (New York: 
D. Appleton & Co., 1897, pp. 438) ; Life, work, and influence of 
Pestalozzi, by Hermann Krusi (New York: American Book Co., pp. 
240) ; and the rich volume of sources by Henry Barnard, Pestalozzi 
and Pestalozzianisnx (Hartford, 1859, pp. 238 + 230). 



154 COMENIUS 

nevertheless, apparent that he was quite as much 
influenced by Comenius as by Rousseau. The vital 
principle of his reforms — love of and sympathy for 
the child — had been as forcefully enunciated by 
Comenius as by Kousseau; and the saner and more 
practical character of Pestalozzi's enthusiasm would 
lead one to suppose that he was less influenced by the 
author of the Emile than by the Moravian reformer. 
"The first qualification for the task [of teaching]," 
says Pestalozzi, in a letter to Greaves, 1 "is thinking 
love" And this spirit dominated all his efforts in 
behalf of educational reform. He says : " It is recorded 
that God opened the heavens to the patriarch of old, 
and showed him a ladder leading thither. This ladder 
is let down to every descendant of Adam; it is offered 
to your child. But he must be taught to climb it — 
not by the cold calculations of the head, or by the 
mere impulses of the heart, but by a combination of 
both." 

Both reformers started with the child at birth, 
and made domestic education fundamental to their 
schemes. "Maternal love," says Pestalozzi, "is the 
first agent in education. Nature has qualified the 
mother to be the chief factor in the education of 
the child." In How Gertrude teaches her children 2, 
he tells us, " It is the main design of my method to 
make home instruction again possible to our neglected 
people, and to induce every mother whose heart beats 

1 Letters on early education. Addressed to J. P. Greaves, Esq., 
Syracuse, 1898, pp. 180. 

2 Translated by Lucy E. Holland and Frances E. Turner, and 
edited with introduction and notes by Ebenezer Cook. Syracuse : 
C. W. Bardeen, 1894. pp. xliv + 256. 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 155 

for her child to make use of my elementary exercises." 
Again, in the account of his school at Stanz, he says : 
" My aim was to simplify teaching so that the common 
people might be induced to begin the instruction of 
their children, and thus render superfluous the teach- 
ing of the elements in the schools. As the mother is 
the first to nourish her child physically, so also, by 
the appointment of God, she must be the first to give 
it spiritual and mental nourishment. I consider that 
very great evils have been occasioned by sending chil- 
dren too early to school; and by adopting so many 
artificial means of educating them away from home. 
The time will come, so soon as we shall have simpli- 
fied instruction, when every mother will be able to 
teach, without the help of others, and thereby, at the 
same time, go on herself always learning." This, it 
will be recalled, was also Comenius' cherished desire 
in the School of infancy. 

Comenius and Pestalozzi stand almost alone among 
the great educational reformers in proclaiming the 
doctrine of universal education — training for the poor 
as well as the rich, for the lowly born as well as for 
the privileged classes, for girls as well as boys. 
" Popular education, " says Pestalozzi, " once lay before 
me like an immense marsh, in the mire of which I 
waded about, until I had discovered the source from 
which its waters sprang, as well as the causes by 
which their free course is obstructed, and made myself 
acquainted with those points from which a hope of 
draining its pools might be conceived. Ever since my 
youthful days, the course of my feelings, which rolled 
on like a mighty stream, was directed to this one point, 
— to stop the sources of that misery in which I saw 



156 COMENIUS 

the people around me immersed." Such regeneration 
he thought could be brought about by consecrated and 
intelligent schoolmasters, and particularly, as G. Stan- 
ley Hall notes in his admirable introduction to the 
American translation of Leonard and Gertrude, 1 "by 
the love and devotion of noble women overflowing 
from the domestic circle into the community, by the 
good Gertrudes of all stations in life, the born edu- 
cators of the race, whose work and whose 'key-words ? 
we men pedagogues must ponder well if our teaching 
is to be ethically inspired." 

The study of nature, and this at first hand, was like- 
wise an inheritance from Comenius. Pestalozzi makes 
observation the basis of all knowledge. "If I look 
back and ask myself what I have really done toward 
the improvement of methods of elementary instruction, 
I find that in recognizing observation as the absolute 
basis of all knowledge, I have established the first and 
most important principle of instruction. I have en- 
deavored to discover what ought to be the character 
of the instruction itself, and what are the fundamental 
laws according to which the education of the human 
race must be determined by nature." 

Comenius was the first of the educational reformers 
to recognize the importance of geography as a subject 
of school study ; and although he had it taught in the 
schools he conducted, and gave it important considera- 
tion in his educational schemes, the study received 
no fresh recognition until the time of Pestalozzi. 
At Stanz, at Burgdorf, and at Yverdon, geography 
ranked as one of the foremost elementary school 

1 Translated and abridged by Eva Cbanning. With an introduc- 
tion by G. Stanley Hall. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co., 1897. pp. 181. 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 157 

studies. And not only was geography taught in the 
schoolrooms, but better than that, it was taught in the 
open air. Vulliemin, jwho was two years a student 
under Pestalozzi at Yverdon, writes : " The first ele- 
ments of geography were taught us on the ground. 
We began the study by taking a walk along a narrow 
valley on the outskirts of Yverdon. We were led to 
observe all its details, and then to help ourselves to 
some clay we found there. This we carried back in 
our baskets, and, on our return home, we had to make 
a model of the ground walked over, and of the sur- 
rounding country; this we did on long tables. Our 
walks were extended, from time to time, and, on our 
return, we added new features as we learned them." 
Pestalozzi was fortunate in having with him at 
Yverdon two eminently successful German teachers, 
who comprehended his aims, and who subsequently 
applied his methods in the fatherland. One was Hen- 
nig, the author of a popular pedagogic work on home 
geography, and the other was Karl Ritter, the deserv- 
edly renowned German geographer. Ritter brought 
with him to Yverdon two young men from Frankfort 
whom he was tutoring, and he served Pestalozzi in the 
capacity of a pupil-teacher ; and, while a developed man 
when he entered the institution, in 1807, he came to 
Yverdon, as so many other enthusiastic Germans had 
done, to study pedagogy with the most distinguished 
master of the century. Years later, when Ritter had 
become the best-known geographer of his age, he 
wrote : " Pestalozzi knew less geography than a child 
in one of our primary schools, yet it was from him 
that I gained my chief knowledge of this science ; for 
it was in listening to him that I first conceived the 



158 COMENIUS 

idea of the natural method. It was he who opened the 
way to me, and I take pleasure in attributing whatever 
value my work may have entirely to him." 

Comenius and Pestalozzi had much in common in 
their aims as educational reformers ; and they together 
share, as Dr. Hoffmeister 1 points out, the honor of 
having originated and carefully elaborated one of the 
most efficient elementary school systems in Europe — 
the Volksschule in Germany. Pestalozzi gave himself 
to education, or, to use his own significant character- 
ization, " I have lived all my days like a beggar, that I 
might teach beggars how to live like men." Comenius 
gave himself, also, and he gave besides a half-dozen 
books, which take classic rank in the permanent liter- 
ature of education. 

Frobel 

The large obligations of the founder of the kinder- 
garten to both Comenius and Pestalozzi cannot be 
gainsaid. Frobel's attention was called to the writ- 
ings of the Moravian reformer early in his educational 
career by Professor Krause, Herder, and others inter- 
ested in his schemes. " Comenius proposes an entire]y 
new basis of education," Professor Krause wrote to 
Frobel. " He attempts to find a method of education, 
consciously based upon science, whereby teachers will 
teach less, and learners will learn more ; whereby there 
will be less noise in the schools, less distaste, fewer 
idle pupils, more happiness and progress; whereby 
confusion, division, and darkness will give place to 
order, intelligence, and peace." He adds, "Comenius 

1 Comenius und Pestalozzi als Begriinder der Volksschule. Von 
Hermann Hoffmeister. Berlin, 1877. 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 159 

was the first to advocate Pestalozzi's doctrine of 
observation (Anschauung)." Mr. Hauschrnann, 1 one 
of FrobePs biographers, remarks: "Krause looked 
upon Frobel as the educational successor of Comenius 
and Pestalozzi. Frobel, he thought, might show, as 
it had never been shown before, how the Pestalozzian 
doctrine of Anschauung was to be applied to the 
education of every child." 

The weeks spent with Pestalozzi in the autumn of 
1805 and the two subsequent years (1808-1810) passed 
with him at Yverdon, gave Frobel ample opportunity 
to study thoroughly the Swiss reformer's theories and 
practices; and these he subsequently applied with 
even greater skill than his master had done. Schmid, 
the German historian of education, says, " Frobel, the 
pupil of Pestalozzi, and a genius like his master, com- 
pleted the reformer's system; taking the results at 
which Pestalozzi had arrived through the necessities 
of his position, Frobel developed the ideas involved 
in them, not by further experience, but by deduction 
from the nature of man, and thus he attained to the 
conception of true human development and to the 
requirements of true education." 

He was thus, in a sense, the combined product of 
the philosophy of Comenius and the zeal of Pestalozzi, 
although working along lines carefully marked out by 
himself. It does not detract from the fame of Frobel 
to say that most of the root-ideas of his kindergarten 
are to be found in the School of infancy. Mr. Bowen, 

1 The kindergarten system : its origin and development as seen 
in the life of Friedrich Frobel. By Alexander Bruno Hauschmann. 
Translated and adapted by Fanny Franks. London : Swan Sonnen- 
schein & Co., 1897. pp. xvi + 253. 



160 COMENIUS 

who has given us one of the best expositions 1 of 
Frobel' s ideas, pays a just tribute of the obligation of 
his master to the writings of Pestalozzi and Comenius. 
He says: "With all his enthusiasm for education and 
his desire to found it on a scientific basis, Comenius 
had but little scientific knowledge of child-nature, and 
troubled himself not at all to acquire it. He con- 
stantly insisted, it is true, upon the exercise of the 
senses, and an education in accordance with nature; 
but his exercise of the senses soon reduced itself, in the 
main, to the use of pictures, with a view to a readier 
and more intelligent acquirement of language; and, 
even in his ergastula literaria, or literary workshop, 
the manual and other work introduced was intended 
to aid poor children in partly getting their own living 
while at school, rather than to exercise faculty ; while 
his 'nature ? was as quaint and conventional as that 
in a pre-Eaphaelite picture. None the less, however, 
Comenius was the true founder of educational method." 

There is entire agreement in a few of the most fun- 
damental aims of the two reformers. Comenius, no 
less than Frobel, preached the gospel of self -activity, 
and demanded that play be given important considera- 
tion in the training of the child. What Comenius 
says on these subjects has already been given in the 
exposition of the /School of infancy. In his Education 
of man, 2 Frobel says: "Play is the purest, most spir- 
itual activity of the child at this period; and, at the 
same time, typical of human life as a whole — of the 

1 Frobel and education through self-activity. By H. Courthope 
Brown. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1897. pp. 209. 

2 Translated and annotated by W. N. Hailmann. New York : 
D. Appleton & Co., 1887. pp. 332. 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 161 

hidden natural life in man and all things. It gives; 
therefore, joy, freedom, contentment, inner and outer 
rest, peace with the world. A child that plays 
thoroughly, with self -active determination, persever- 
ingly, until physical fatigue forbids, will surely be a 
thorough, determined man, capable of self-sacrifice for 
the promotion of the welfare of himself and others. 
Is not the most beautiful expression of child-life at 
this time a playing child? — a child wholly absorbed 
in his play? — a child that has fallen asleep while so 
absorbed? . . . The plays of the child contain the 
germ of the whole life that is to follow; for the man 
develops and manifests himself in play, and reveals the 
noblest aptitudes and the deepest elements of his 
being." 

Frobel joined with Comenius in demanding that 
women shall take a responsible part in the education 
of the child. Mr. James L. Hughes 1 says in this 
connection: "The greatest step made toward the full 
recognition of woman's individuality and responsi- 
bility since the time of Christ was made when Frobel 
founded his kindergartens and made women educators 
outside the home — educators by profession. This 
momentous reform gave the first great impetus to the 
movement in favor of women's freedom, and provided 
for the general advance of humanity to a higher plane 
by giving childhood more considerate, more sympa- 
thetic, and more stimulating teachers." Frobel was 
convinced that women were better adapted than men 
for the early stages of instruction. He says: "All 
agree that, compared with the true mother, the formal 

1 Frobel' s educational laws for all teachers. By James L. Hughes. 
New York : D. Appleton & Co., 1897. pp. 296. 



162 COMENIUS 

educator is but a bungler. But she must become con- 
scious of her own aim, and must learn intelligently 
the means to reach it. She can no longer afford to 
squander or neglect the earliest years of her child. 
As the world grows older, we become richer in knowl- 
edge and art. But childhood remains short as before." 
In other important particulars Frobel owed much to 
Comenius, as well as to Pestalozzi. Compare, for 
example, the School of infancy with the aims of the 
kindergarten, and the bequests of the Moravian 
reformer will at once be apparent. The exaggerated 
and unpedagogic symbolism, however, with which 
Frobel burdened his otherwise excellent kindergarten 
system, formed no part of his heritage from Comenius. 

Herbart 

Professor De Garmo, 1 who has given us a most 
succinct statement of Herbart' s educational views, 
remarks, " that one of the main results of Comenius, 
Kousseau, and Pestalozzi is the firmly fixed conviction 
that observation, or the use of the senses, and, in 
general, the consideration of simple concrete facts in 
every field of knowledge, is the sure foundation upon 
which all right elementary education rests. This 
truth is now the acknowledged starting-point of all 
scientific methods of teaching. Yet the fact of impor- 
tance of observation in instruction does not carry with 
it any information showing how the knowledge so 
obtained can be utilized, or what its nature, time, 
amount, and order of presentation should be. In 

1 Herbart and the Herbartians. By Charles De Garmo. New 
York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895. pp. 268. 



INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON EDUCATION 163 

short, it does not show how mental assimilation can 
best take place, or how the resulting acquisitions can 
be made most efficiently to influence the emotional and 
volitional sides of our nature. Perception is, indeed, 
the first stage of cognition, but its equally important 
correlative is apperception and assimilation. It is 
Herbart and his successors who have made us dis- 
tinctly conscious of this fact." There can be no 
reasonable doubt but that Herbart did give a powerful 
impulse to the judicious assimilation of acquired 
sense-experience; and yet even here it is quite pos- 
sible to underestimate the character and value of the 
nature studies of Comenius and the object lessons of 
Pestalozzi. 

Herbart, like Comenius, emphasized the necessary 
effect of all instruction on character. " The circle of 
thought," says Herbart, "contains the store of that 
which by degrees can mount by the steps of interest 
to desire, and then, by means of action, to volition. 
Further, it contains the store upon which all the 
workings of prudence are founded — in it are the 
knowledge and care, without which man cannot pur- 
sue his aims through means. The whole inner activity, 
indeed, has its abode in the circle of thought. Here 
is found the initiative life, the primal energy; here 
all must circulate easily and freely, everything must 
be in its place, ready to be found and used at any 
moment; nothing must lie in the way, and nothing 
like a heavy load impede useful activity." Indeed, 
as Kern suggests, in Herbart' s scheme interest is the 
moral monitor and protector against the servitude that 
springs from passions and desires. 

The doctrine of interest, but vaguely suggested by 



164 COMENIUS 

Comenius, is perhaps the most noteworthy contribu- 
tion of Herbart to modern pedagogy ; but to summar- 
ize Herbart's views on interest would be to summarize 
his whole theory of education. He recognizes two 
groups of interests — intellectual and social. Two 
phases of intellectual interests are distinguished: 
(1) empirical interests, or the pleasures occasioned 
by disinterested curiosity; (2) speculative interests 
occasioned by the impulse to search out causal rela- 
tions; and (3) aesthetic interests aroused through 
beauties in nature, art, and character. The social 
interests are likewise threefold: (1) sympathetic or 
altruistic; (2) social and fraternal; and (3) religious. 
Herbart' s contribution to empirical psychology, 
although important, was second to his application of 
direct pedagogic problems to actual school practice — 
the working out of his doctrine of many-sided interest, 
the selection and adjustment of materials of instruc- 
tion, and the reform of school government and 
discipline. 1 

1 See Herbart's Science of education. Translated from the Ger- 
man, with a biographical introduction by Henry M. and Emmie 
Felkin. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co., 1895. pp. 268. 



CHAPTER X 

PERMANENT INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS 

General neglect of Comenius during the eighteenth century — 
Causes — Intrenchment of humanism — Summary of the perma- 
nent reforms of Comenius — Revived interest in his teachings — 
National Comenius pedagogical library at Leipzig — The Come- 
nius Society — Reviews published for the dissemination of the 
educational doctrines of Comenius — Conquest of his ideas. 

The permanent influence of Comenius remains to 
be noted. Famous in his own day; enjoying the 
friendship of great scholars and the confidence of royal 
personages ; the founder of numerous school systems ; 
the author of more than a hundred books and treatises, 
which were translated into most of the languages of 
Europe and Asia, — the name of the great Moravian 
reformer was quite if not entirely forgotten, and his 
writings practically unknown, for more than a century 
after his death. Professor Nicholas Murray Butler, 1 
in likening him unto the stream that loses itself in the 
arid desert and then reappears with gathered force 
and volume to lend its fertilizing power to the sur- 
rounding country, says: "Human history is rich in 
analogies to this natural phenomenon; but in Comenius 
the history of education furnishes its example. The 
great educational revival of our century, and particu- 
larly of our generation, has shed the bright light of 

1 The place of Comenius in the history of education. Proceed- 
ings of the National Education Association for 1892. pp. 723-728. 

165 



166 COMENIUS 

scholarly investigation into all the dark places, and 
to-day, at the three hundredth anniversary of his 
birth, the fine old Moravian bishop is being honored 
wherever teachers gather together and wherever edu- 
cation is the theme." 

The world, which usually takes pause for a moment, 
when a great man dies, to seriously consider what 
there was in the dead that lifted him above the ordi- 
nary level, took no such inventory when the remains 
of Comenius were laid at rest in a quiet little town in 
Holland. " The man whom we unhesitatingly affirm, " 
says Mr. Keatinge, "to be the broadest-minded, the 
most far-seeing, the most comprehensive, and withal 
the most practical of all writers who have put pen to 
paper on the subject of education; the man whose 
theories have been put into practice in every school 
that is conducted on rational principles ; who embodies 
the materialistic tendencies of our 'modern side ' 
instructors, while avoiding the narrowness of their 
reforming zeal; who lays stress on the spiritual aspect 
of true education, while he realizes the necessity of 
equipping his pupils for the rude struggle with nature 
and with fellow-men — Comenius, we say, the prince 
of schoolmasters, produced, practically, no effect on 
the school organization and educational development 
of the following century." 

The causes of this universal neglect are not easily 
explained. That he lived most of his days in 
exile; that he belonged to a religious community 
which was numerically insignificant and which suf- 
fered all those bitter persecutions following in the 
train of the Thirty Years' War; that indiscretion 
entangled him in certain alleged prophetic revelations, 



PEKMANENT INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS 167 

which subsequently turned out the baldest impostures; 
and, more important than all, as Professor Laurie 
points out, that schoolmasters did not wish to be dis- 
turbed by a man with new ideas, — these facts help to 
explain the universal neglect into which his name and 
writings fell. In a personal letter, Oscar Browning 
expresses the belief that if the teachings of Comenius 
had been dated a century earlier, that the realistic 
type of education might have been generally followed 
— at least in the countries that had broken with the 
Church of Eome. As it was, however, Melanchthon, 
the schoolmaster of the Eeformation, adopted, with 
slight modifications, the humanistic type of educa- 
tion. For the time being, at least, the ideas held by 
Comenius were pushed into the background, and 
humanism, already deeply intrenched, dominated 
educational practices. Reformers were not wanting, 
however, to champion the reforms of Comenius, men 
like Francke, Rousseau, Basedow, Pestalozzi, Frobel, 
and Herbart. But it remained for the nineteenth cen- 
tury to realize, in considerable measure, the aims and 
aspirations of the far-reaching reforms of the Moravian 
bishop. v 

" There is nothing startling about the educational 
reforms of Comenius to-day," says Professor Earl 
Barnes. "They are the commonplace talk of all 
school conventions. But to see them when no one 
else has formulated them, to enunciate them before an 
audience often hostile, and to devote a life to teaching 
them and working them out — this requires a broad 
mind and something of the spirit of the martyr, and 
both these elements were strong in Comenius." 

In spite of the neglect into which the reforms of 



168 COMENIUS 

Comenius fell, his influence has been lasting because 
his work was constructive and his reforms were far 
reaching. Among the reforms which he advocated (and 
since incorporated in the modern educational move- 
ment), the following may be named: — 

1. That the purpose of education is to fit for com- 
plete living, in consequence of which its benefits must 
be extended to all classes of society. 

2. That education should follow the course and 
order of nature, and be adapted to the stages of mental 
development of the child. 

3. That intellectual progress is conditioDed at every 
step by bodily vigor, and that to attain the best results, 
physical exercises must accompany and condition 
mental training. 

4. That children must first be trained in the 
mother-tongue, and that all the elementary knowledge 
should be acquired through that medium. 

5. That nature study must be made the basis of all 
primary instruction, so that the child may exercise his 
senses and be trained to acquire knowledge at first 
hand. 

6. That the child must be wisely trained during its 
earliest years, for which purpose mothers must be 
trained for the high and holy mission of instructing 
little children, and women generally be given more 
extended educational opportunities. 

7. That the school course must be enriched by the 
addition of such useful studies as geography and 
history. 

8. That the subjects of study must be so correlated 
and coordinated that they may form a common unit 
of thought. 



PERMANENT INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS 169 

9. That teachers must be specially trained. 

10. That schools must be more rationally graded 
and better supervised. 

11. That languages must be taught as "living 
organic wholes fitted for the purposes of life, and not 
as the lifeless tabulations of the grammarians." 

It was the opinion of Mr. Quick that the most 
hopeful sign of the improvement of education was the 
rapid advance in the last thirty years of the fame of 
Comenius, and the growth of a large literature about 
the man and his ideas. The revival of Comenian 
ideas really dates from the beginning of the present 
century, when Germany, crushed and dismembered, 
looked to her schools as the surest means of regaining 
fallen glory; so that the battle of Jena may be given 
as the date of this awakened interest in the reforms of 
the Moravian educator. This interest culminated in 
the foundation of the great national Comenius peda- 
gogical library (Comenius-Stiftung) at Leipzig, in 
1871. It was founded by a band of enthusiastic dis- 
ciples of Comenius, of whom Julius Beeger was the 
foremost; and, although it numbered but 2642 vol- 
umes at the end of the first year, the interest in the 
movement has been so great that it now numbers 
over 70,000 volumes, and constitutes the largest 
single collection of pedagogical books in the world. 
The books are classified in 56 departments, the most 
important of which are : encyclopsedias of pedagogy, 
complete collections of the writings of standard edu- 
cational writers, sources of history of education, 
general works on the history of education, histories of 
special periods in education, histories of education in 
different countries, histories of individual educational 



170 COMENIUS 

institutions, educational biographies, works on sys- 
tematic'pedagogy, physical education, etc. The library 
covers every department of educational thought, and 
is especially strong in the literature relating to the 
elementary schools of Germany. The privileges of 
the library are freely open to all students of educa- 
tion. The library is under the control of the Leipzig 
teachers' association, and is sustained in part by the 
association and in part by appropriations from the 
city of Leipzig and the kingdom of Saxony. 1 What 
more appropriate memorial to the long and devoted 
life of Comenius to the cause of education could be 
desired, and what stronger evidence of the permanent 
influence of his work and worth. 

A second recent manifestation of the permanency of 
the Moravian educator's influence is the Comenius 
Society (Comenius-Gesellschaft), with headquarters in 
Germany, and numbering among its members most of 
the leaders in educational thought in the world. It 
was organized in 1891. The objects of the society are 
(1) to spread the living influence of the spirit of 
Comenius and the men who have represented cognate 
reforms; (2) to work toward an increased knowledge 
of the past and a healthy development of the future 
on the principle of mutual union and forbearance, by 
means of the cultivation of the literature which has 
grown out of that spirit; and (3) to prepare the way 
for a reform of education and instruction on the lines 
laid down by Comenius. In order to realize these 

1 An excellent account of the national Comenius pedagogical 
library will be found in: Die pddagogischen Bibliotheken, Schul- 
museen und standigen Lehrmittelausstellungen der Welt. Von 
Julius Beeger. Leipzig : Zangenberg & Himly, 1892. pp. 84. 



PERMANENT INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS 171 

objects, the society further proposes (1) the publica- 
tion of the more important writings and letters of 
Comenius and his associates; (2) inquiry into the his- 
tory and dogmas of the old evangelical congregations 
(Waldenses, Bohemian Brethren, Swiss Brethren, 
etc.), chiefly by publishing the original sources from 
their history; and (3) the collection of books, manu- 
scripts, and documents which are important for the 
history of the above objects. 

The membership of the society, while overwhelm- 
ingly German, includes a considerable number from 
Austria-Hungary, Holland, Great Britain, the United 
States, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, 
France, Greece, Belgium, and Denmark. The society 
inspired the numerous celebrations in commemoration 
of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of 
Comenius (March 28, 1892). These celebrations, held 
at most of the educational centres in the Old World, 
and at a number of places in the New, revived the 
memory of Comenius, and brought his teachings to 
thousands of teachers who had known him before 
only as a name. 

The society began in 1892 the publication of a high- 
grade review, — Monatshefte der Comenius-Gesellschaft, 
— which is published bi-monthly at Berlin, and is 
edited by the distinguished Comenius scholar, Dr. 
Ludwig Keller. This review has most creditably 
carried out the purposes of the society in publishing 
a wealth of original material on Comenius and his con- 
temporaries, that hitherto has been altogether inacces- 
sible to the student of the history of education. The 
society also publishes a bi-monthly educational journal 
for the use of teachers in the elementary schools of 



172 COMENIUS 

Germany especially interested in the doctrines of 
Comenius. It is entitled Comenius-Blatter fur Volks- 
erziehung, and is also published at Berlin and edited 
by Dr. Keller. The propaganda of the Comenius 
Society has done much to restore this worthy to the 
place he so justly merits — the foremost educational 
reformer of modern times. 

These are some of the agencies employed by the 
Comenius Society in opening up an appreciation of 
this great man, who, "born in Moravia, working 
amongst Czechs, Germans, English, Dutch, Swedes, 
and Hungarians, with friends in France and Italy, has 
won by his thought, as well as by his life, a universal 
significance. As philosopher and divine, in union 
with Andrese, Dury, Milton, and others, he devoted his 
life to a work of peace. He placed the weal of man, 
as he termed it, above the respect for languages, 
persons, and sects; thus his energies were directed 
toward restraining the wrangling people, churches, 
and classes from the violent utterance of their differ- 
ences, and leading them on the ground of early Chris- 
tian views to mutual peace and forbearance. As 
educationalist, inspired by Bacon, he successfully 
asserted the claims of experimental science in the 
elementary schools of his time, placed the mother- 
tongue on the list of subjects of instruction, and 
included in the conception of the school the idea of 
physical culture. By his demand for education of all 
children, including girls, who till then had been 
neglected, he became one of the fathers of modern 
elementary education. " 



APPENDICES 

I. TABLE OF DATES 

(a) Pertaining to the Life of Comenius 

1592. Born at Nivnitz, Moravia, March 28th. 

1604. Death of his father and mother. 

. Entered the elementary school at Strasnitz. 

1608. Entered the gymnasium at Prerau. 

1611. Matriculated in the college at Herborn. 

1613. Matriculated in the university at Heidelberg. 

1614. Appointed teacher in the Moravian school at Prerau. 
1616. Ordained as a minister, April 29th. 

1618. Called to the pastorate of the church at Fulneck ; also 
superintendent of schools. 

1624. Marriage to Elizabeth Cyrrill. 

. Driven into the Bohemian mountains by religious per- 
secutions. 

1627. Banished from his native country. 

1628. Fled to Poland ; given charge of the gymnasium at Lissa. 
1632. Consecrated as a bishop, October 6th. 

1641. Called to England, arriving there September 22d. 

1642. Left London, June 10th, for Sweden. 
. Settled at Elbing, Prussia, in October. 

1648. Beturned to Lissa ; death of his wife ; chosen president 

of the council (senior bishop), of the Moravian Church. 

1649. Ke-married, to Elizabeth Gaiusowa. 

1650. Took charge of the schools at Saros-Patak, Hungary, in 

May. 
1654. Beturned to Lissa. 
1656. Lissa burned ; flight to Silesia. 

. Settled in Amsterdam. 

1670. Died at Amsterdam, November 15th ; buried at Naarden 

(Holland), November 22d. 
173 



174 APPENDICES 



(b) Principal Writings of Comenius 

1616. Grammatical facilioris proecepta (Simple grammatical 

rules) . Prague. 

1617. Listowe do nebe (Cries of the oppressed poor). Olmutz. 

1622. De Christina perfectione (On Christian perfection). 

Prague. 

1623. Labyrint sveta a raj srdce, to jest (Labyrinth of the world 

and paradise of the heart) . Lissa. 
1631. Janua linguarum reserata (Gate of languages unlocked). 
Lissa. 

1633. Informatorium der Mutter-Schul (School of infancy). 

Lissa. 

. Atrium Unguce Latince (On the study of Latin style). 

Lissa. 

1634. Physical ad lumen divinum reformats synopsis (Physics 

remodelled in accordance with divine light). Leipzig. 
1638. Prodromus pansophice (Fragment of the Great didactic. 

Published in London, 1639, by Hartlib) . Lissa. 
1641. Via lucis (The way of light). Amsterdam. 
1643. Pansophice diatyphosis, inconographica, et orthographica 

(Published in England in 1650 with the title : A pattern 

of universal knowledge) . Danzig. 

1647. Vestibulum Latinoe Unguce rerum (Vestibule of the Latin 

language) . Lissa. 

1648. Linguarum methodus novissima (New method of language 

study) . Lissa. 

1650. Lux in tenebris (Light in darkness — on prophetic vis- 
ions). Amsterdam. 

. Scholai pansophicce delincetio (Plan of a pansophic school) . 

Saros-Patak. 

1656. Schola ludus (School dramas). Saros-Patak. 

1657. Orbis sensualium pictus (The world illustrated). Nu- 

remberg. 
. Opera didactica omnia (Complete didactic works in four 

volumes) . Amsterdam. 
1660. Historia fratrum Bohemorum (History of the Bohemian 

brethren). Amsterdam. 



APPENDICES 175 

. Cartesius cum sua naturali philosophic*, a mechanicis 

eversus (Descartes and his natural philosophy over- 
thrown by arguments derived from mechanical princi- 
ples). Amsterdam. 

. Be natura caloris et frigoris (On the nature of heat and 

cold). Amsterdam. 

1668. Unum necessarium (The one thing needful). Amsterdam. 



II. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(a) Writings of Comenius 

1. The great didactic. Translated with introductions, bio- 

graphical and historical, by M. W. Keatinge. London : 
Adam and Charles Black. 1896. pp. 468. 

This first complete translation of Comenius' most 
philosophic work is admirably done. The biographical 
introduction is given ninety-eight pages, and the his- 
torical introduction fifty pages. These are both inter- 
esting and critical. The book unfortunately is not 
indexed. 

2. The school of infancy : an essay on the education of youth 

during the first six years. Edited with an ^introduction 
and notes by Will S. Monroe. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co. 
1896. London : Isbister & Co. 1897. pp. xvi+99. 

There are numerous foot-notes, intended to show the 
origin of Comenius' educational ideals and the influence 
of his writings on later educators. Collateral reading 
references are given at the end of each chapter, and in 
the appendix there is a reasonably complete bibliography 
of Comenius literature. 

3. The orbis pictus. Translated into English by Charles 

Hoole. London: John and Benj. Sprint, 1728. Syra- 
cuse, N.Y.: C. W. Bardeen. 1887. pp. 100. 

This is a very satisfactory reproduction of the famous 
Hoole translation by the photographic process. Some of 
the cuts are indistinct, but Mr. Bardeen wisely refrained 
from retouching them, preferring occasional indistinct- 
ness to modern tampering with the originals. 



176 APPENDICES 

4. John Amos Comenius : his life and educational work. By 

S. S. Laurie. Boston : Willard Small. 1885. pp. 229. 

The introduction (pp. 1-16) gives the effect of the Ke- 
naissance on education ; a brief but appreciative sketch 
of the life of Comenius follows (pp. 17-64) ; and the 
remainder of the book is given to an exposition of his 
writings. 

5. Grosse Unterrichtslehre. Aus dem Lateinischen ubersetzt 

mit Einleitungen und Anmerkungen versehen von Julius 
Beeger und Franz Zoubek. Leipzig: Siegismund und 
Volkening. Ro date. pp. clxxvii+280. 

The sketch of the life of Comenius (176 pp.) is by 
Zoubek,. and the translation of the Great didactic from 
the Latin into German by Beeger. 

6. Ausgewahlte Schriften. Aus dem Lateinischen ubersetzt 

und mit Einleitung und Anmerkungen versehen von 
Julius Beeger und J. Leutbecher. Leipzig : Siegismund 
und Volkening. No date. pp. xvi+359. 

A collection of the miscellaneous educational writings 
of Comenius, including the School of infancy, Paneger- 
sia, and fragments of the Pansophy. 

7. Grosse Unterrichtslehre. Mit einer Einleitung: J. Come- 

nius, sein Leben und Wirken. Einleitung, Ubersetzung 
und Commentar von Gustav Adolph Lindner. Wien 
und Leipzig : A. Pichler's Witwe und Sohn. 1892. pp. 
lxxxix+311. 

Perhaps the best German edition of the Great didactic. 
The biographical sketch is less valuable than the one in 
the edition by Beeger and Zoubek ; but the annotations 
on the Great didactic, covering about forty pages, give it 
special pedagogic value. 

8. Ueber "Bins ist noth" ("Unum necessarium"). Von 

Joh. Amos Comenius. Znaim : Fournier und Haber- 
ler. 1892. pp. 22. 

A convenient edition of Comenius' pathetic swan song, 
" The one thing needful." 



APPENDICES 177 



(b) Biographical and Critical 

1. Educational Beview. Nicholas Murray Butler, editor. New 

York : Educational Review Publishing Co. March, 1892. 
Vol. III. pp. 209-236. 

The issue for March, 1892, is a Comenius number. It 
contains a brief on Comenius by Professor Butler (pp. 
209-211); "The place of Comenius in the history of 
education," by Professor Laurie (pp, 211-223) ; "The 
text-books of Comenius," by Mr. C. W. Bardeen (pp. 223- 
336) ; and " The permanent influence of Comenius," by 
Professor Hanus (pp. 226-236). 

2. Proceedings of the National Educational Association for 

1892. pp. 703-728. 

The department of superintendence of the National 
Educational Association, in connection with the meeting 
at Brooklyn, Eebruary 16-18, 1892, held exercises in 
commemoration of the three-hundredth anniversary of 
the birth of Comenius, with the following addresses: 
"Private life and personal characteristics," Dr. John 
Max Hark (pp. 703-711) ; "Text-books of Comenius," 
Superintendent William H. Maxwell (pp. 712-723) ; 
"Place of Comenius in the history of education," Pro- 
fessor Nicholas Murray Butler (pp. 723-728) . 

3. Essays on educational reformers. By Robert Hebert Quick. 

New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1893. pp. 119-171. 

One of the best brief critical surveys of the writings 
of Comenius and written in the fascinating style of the 
genial Quick. 

4. History of pedagogy. By Gabriel Compayre\ Translated 

by W. H. Payne. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co. 1886. 
pp. 122-136. 

A brief summary of Comenius' most important contribu- 
tions to primary instruction. 

5. The educational ideal : an outline of its growth in modern 

times. By James Phinney Munroe. Boston : D. C. Heath 
& Co. 1895. pp. 68-94. 
A concise and critical survey of the reforms of Comenius 

N 



178 APPENDICES 

and the other realists. After Quick, the best brief survey 
. of the modern movement ; and at many points it supple- 
ments Quick. 
6. Barnard' s American Journal of Education. Published at 
Hartford by the editor, Henry Barnard. June, 1858. 
Vol. V. pp. 257-298. 

Dr. Barnard was one of the earliest to call attention to 
the pedagogic value of Comenius' writings. This transla- 
tion from Karl von Baumer's G-eschichte der PadagogiJc 
was, up to the time Professor Laurie's book appeared, 
the only comprehensive study of Comenius in English. 
Baumer, however, is not an impartial critic of the realists. 
The history of the unitas fratrum. By Edmund de Schwei- 
nitz. Bethlehem, Penn. : Moravian Publication Office. 
1885. pp. 693. 

An authoritative account of the Moravian Brethren and 
of Comenius' relation to the same. 

8. Monatshefte der Comenius-Gesellschaft. Ludwig Kellar, 

editor. Berlin: Hermann Heyfelder. 1892-1900. 10 
volumes. 

A high grade bi-monthly review published by the 
Comenius Society in the interest of. education generally, 
and in particular of the views held by the Moravian re- 
former. The review is a mine of rich material on Come- 
nius and his contempories. 

9. Leben und Schicksale des Johann Amos Comenius. Von 

Anton Vrbka. Znaim : Eournier und Haberler. 1892. 
pp. 160. 

The best brief German life of Comenius. It is accurate 
and sympathetic, and contains 17 wood-cuts. 

10. liber des Johann Amos Comenius Leben und Wirhsamkeit. 

Von Anton Gindely. Znaim: Eournier und Haberler. 
1893. pp. 109. 

Another brief German work. Professor Gindely is a 
Roman Catholic, and while he writes of Comenius with 
less enthusiasm, he presents his life with critical fairness. 

11. Johann Amos Comenius: sein Leben und seine Schriften. 

Von Johann Kvacsala. Berlin : Julius Klinkhardt. 1892. 
pp. 480 + 89. 



APPENDICES 179 

This, so far as I know, is the most comprehensive life 
of Comenius to be found in any language ; hut at many 
points it is unnecessarily tedious and diffuse. 

12. Beings Encyclopadisches Handbuch der Padagogik. Lan- 

gensalza : Hermann Beyer und Sonne. Vol. I. pp. 
558-569. 

An excellent brief article by A. Nebe. An article on 
the Comenius-Stiftung follows (pp. 569-573). 

13. Der Anschauungsunterricht in der deutschen Schule von 

Amos Comenius Ms zur Gegenwart. Von Gottlieb Gus- 
tav Deussing. Erankenberg : C. C. Rossberg. 1884. 
pp. Q6. 

A historical and critical dissertation on the growth of 
object teaching, and nature study. 

14. Die padagogischen Grundgedanken des Amos Comenius. 

Von Hermann Gottsched. Magdeburg : A. und R. Faber. 
1879. pp. 64. 
A dissertation on Comenius' philosophy of education. 

15. Comenius : ein Systematiker in der Padagogik. Von 

Walter Muller. Dresden : Bleyl und Kaemmer. 1887. 
pp. 50. 

A dissertation on the contributions of Comenius to 
systematic pedagogy and school systems. 

16. Die Padagogik des Spaniers Johann Ludwig Vines und 

sein Einfluss auf Joh. Amos Comenius. Eiiangen : Junge 
und Sohn. 1890. pp. 69. 

Indicates traces of the educational theories of Comenius 
in the writings of Vives. 

17. Die Didaktik Basedows im Vergleiche zur Didaktik des 

Comenius. Von Petru Garbovicianu. Bucharest: Carol 
Gobi. 1887. pp. 82. 

The influence of the Great didactic of Comenius on 
Basedow and his institution is pointed out. 

18. Schmidt's Encyclopadie des gesammten Erziehungs und 

Unterrichtswesen. Gotha: Besser. 1876. Vol. I. pp. 
941-951. 

The article is by G. Baur. It is less comprehensive, 
although more sympathetic, than the article in Raumer's 
Geschichte der Padagogik. 



180 APPENDICES 

19. Buisson's Dictionnaire de pedagogie et d 'instruction prv- 
maire. Paris : Hanchette et Cie. 1887. Vol I. Part I. 
pp. 421-427. 

Three brief but discriminating articles. The first, on 
the life of Coinenius, by C. Progler (pp. 421-423); the 
second, on the pedagogical writings of Coinenius, by Fer- 
dinand Buisson (pp. 423-426) ; the third, on the perma- 
nent influences of Comenius, by A. Daguet (pp. 426-427). 



INDEX 



Alsted, John H., 43. 

Andreae, John Valentine, 85. 

A qua viva, 3. 

Aquinas, Thomas, 7. 

Aristotle, Politics, 2 ; philosophy of, 7. 

Arithmetic, 116. 

Arts, 99. 

Ascham, Eoger, on humanism, 12 ; the 

Scholemaster, 13. 
Atrium, 65, 129. 

Bacon, Francis, dangers of science, 22 ; 
views on education, 23-28 ; criticisms 
on English education, 56 ; education 
according to nature, 148. 

Bardeen, C. "W., editor of Orbis pictus, 
175 ; text-book of Comenius, 177. 

Barnard, Henry, contributions to the 
literature of Comenius, 178. 

Barnes, Earl, on the reforms of Come- 
nius, 167. 

Basedow, Johann Bernhard, educa- 
tional theories and labors, 149-153. 

Bateus, "William, the Janua, 36, 125. 

Baur, G., sketch of Comenius, 179. 

Beeger, Julius, relation to the Come- 
nius-Stiftung, 169 ; translation of the 
writings of Comenius, 176. 

Benham, Daniel, translation of School 
of infancy, 110. 

Bibliography of Comenius, 177-180. 

Blodgett, James H., call of Comenius 
to Harvard, 81. 

Bowen, H. Courthope, relation of 
Frobel to Comenius, 159. 

Browning, Oscar, on humanism, 1 ; on 
the study of Latin, 4. 

Bruni, Leonardo, an early humanist, 8. 

Buisson, Ferdinand, Vives on pauper- 
ism, 18 ; the pedagogical writings of 
Comenius, 180. 

Butler, Nicholas Murray, forerunners 



of Comenius, 15 ; meaning of infancy, 
86 ; permanent influence of Come- 
nius, 165, 177. 

Caesar, Commentaries, 2. 

Campanella, Thomas, on study of 
nature, 35. 

Comenius, John Amos, forerunners, 
15 ; relation to Vives, 16 ; agree- 
ment with Bacon, 23 ; influenced by 
Eatke, 2S ; obligations to Bateus, 36 ; 
birth at Nivnitz, 38 ; ancestry, 39 ; 
classical training at Prerau, 40 ; 
studies at Herborn, 42 ; matricula- 
tion at Heidelberg, 44 ; teacher in an 
elementary school, 44 ; ordination as 
a minister, 45 ; exile in the Bohe- 
mian mountains, 46 ; flight from Bo- 
hemia, 47 ; literary connections, 48 ; 
first call to Sweden, 49 ; call to Eng- 
land, 53 ; English friends, 54 ; failure 
of English schemes, 55 ; second call 
to Sweden, 56 ; relations with Lewis 
de Geer, 57 ; location at Elbing, 
60; ordination as senior bishop of 
the Moravian Brethren, 61 ; eccle- 
siastical ministrations, 62 ; call to 
Hungary, 63 ; organization of the 
schools at Saros-Patak, 64 ; return to 
Poland, 69 ; flight to Amsterdam, 71 ; 
complete edition of his works, 72 ; 
death at Amsterdam, 76; burial at 
Naarden, 76 ; marriage and children, 
77; alleged call to presidency of 
Harvard College, 78 ; portraits, 81 ; 
the Great didactic, S3-108; the 
School of infancy, 109-122; the 
Janua, 123-129; the Atrium and 
the Vestibulum, 129-139 ; the Orbis 
pictus, 130-138; Methodus novis- 
sima, 138-141 ; influence on modern 
educators, 142; on Francke, 143- 



181 



182 



INDEX 



146 ; on Eousseau, 146-149 ; on Base- 
dow, 149-153 ; on Pestalozzi, 153-158 ; 
on Frobel, 158-162 ; on Herbart, 162- 
164 ; permanent influence, 165-171 ; 
bibliography, 177-180. 

Comenius-Blatter, 172. 

Comenius-Gesellschaft, 170. 

Comenius-Stiftung, 169. 

Compayre, Gabriel, the Orois pictus, 
137 ; sketch of Comenius, 177. 

Cordier, Maturin, condition of educa- 
tion in France in the 16th century, 
4. 

Daguet, A., sketch of Comenius, 180. 

Davidson, Thomas, relation of Eous- 
seau to Comenius, 146. 

De Garmo, Charles, Frobel and Come- 
nius, 162. 

De Geer, Lawrence, aid to Comenius, 
71. 

De Geer, Lewis, patron of Comenius, 
57. 

De Schweinitz, Edmund, account of 
the Uhitas fratrwm, 178. 

Discipline of schools, 89, 106-108. 

Dunster, Henry, president of Harvard 
College, 78. 

Durie, John, connection with Come- 
nius, 54. 

Elbing, the Prussian home of Comenius, 

60. 
femile, 146. 
Erasmus, on classical learning, 8, 24. 

Fables, 117. 

Fiske, John, meaning of infancy, 86. 

Food of children, 116. 

Francke, August Hermann, studies at 
Kiel and Leipzig, 143 ; organization 
of the Pasdagogium at Halle, 144; 
attitude toward classical learning, 
145. 

Frobel, Friedrich, obligations to Come- 
nius, 158 ; studies with Pestalozzi, 
159 ; views on the education of 
women, 161. 

Galileo, opposed by the humanists, 9. 
Geography, 116, 138. 
Gindely, Anton, life of Comenius, 178. 
Girls, education of, 88. 



Gotha, Eatke's experiment at, 31. 
Great didactic, 36, 83-108. 
Groos, Karl, on play, 118. 

Hall, G. Stanley, value of the OrM8 pic- 
tus, 137 ; influence of Pestalozzi, 156. 

Hanus, Paul H., call of Comenius to 
Harvard College, 79 ; correlation, 97 ; 
permanent influence of Comenius, 
177. 

Hark, John Max, personal character- 
istics of Comenius, 177. 

Harris, William T., 126. 

Hartlib, Samuel, account of, 51-54. 

Harvard College, alleged call of Come- 
nius to the presidency of, 78-83. 

Heidelberg, matriculation of Comenius 
at the university, 44. 

Henry VIII, relations with Vives, 19. 

Herbart, Johann Friedrich, obligations 
to Comenius, 162 ; effect of instruc- 
tion on character, 163 ; doctrine of 
interest, 164. 

Herborn, studies of Comenius at, 42. 

History, 116. 

Hoole, Charles, editor of the Orbis 
pictus, 133, 177. 

Hughes, James L., Frobel and the 
education of women, 161. 

Hughes, Thomas, account of Loyola, 
5. 

Humanism, 1-14. 

Hus, John, first bishop of the Moravian 
Brethren, 38. 

Infancy, meaning of, 86; Comenius' 

School of infancy, 103, 109-122. 
Interest, doctrine of, 163. 

Janua, of Bateus, 37 ; of Comenius, 
65, 125-129. 

Jena, relations to Eatke, 29 ; pedagogi- 
cal seminary, 145. 

Jesuits, the Ratio studiorum of, 5 ; 
devotion to Latin eloquence, 7. 

Justinus, Laurentius, bishop of the 
Moravian Brethren, 61. 

Kant, Immanuel, on the labors of Base- 
dow, 152. 

Keatinge, M. "W., quoted, 39, 57 ; edi- 
tion of the Great didactic, 84, 
175. 



INDEX 



183 



Keller, Ludwig, editor of Monatshefte 

der Comenius Gesellschaft, 170, 

178. 
Kindergarten, 158. 
Komensky, Martin, father of John 

Amos Comenius, 38. 
Kvacsala, Johann, sketch of Comenius, 

178. 

Language, 100, 123-141. 

Latin, schools, 105 ; study of, 2. 

Laurie, S. S., quoted, 137; edition of 
the Great didactic, 176; place of 
Comenius in the history of educa- 
tion, 177. 

Leipzig, study of pedagogy at the uni- 
versity, 145 ; national pedagogical 
library, 169. 

Lindner, G. A., edition of the Great 
didactic, 176. 

Luther, Martin, 89. 

Magnolia of Cotton Mather, 78. 

Masson, David, quoted, 52. 

Mather, Cotton, call of Comenius to 
Harvard, 78. 

Maxwell, "William H., text-books of 
Comenius, 134, 177. 

Melanchthon, Philip, on classical learn- 
ing, 9, 24. 

Mental training, 115-120. 

Methods of instruction, 97-103. 

MethoduH nomssima, 138-141. 

Monatshefte der Comenius-Gesell- 
schaft, 171, 178. 

Monroe, Will S., call of Comenius to 
Harvard College, 81 ; edition of the 
School of infancy, 110, 175. 

Montaigne, on humanism, 11. 

Moral training, 101, 120. 

Moravian Brethren, 38. 

Mulcaster, Kichard, on humanism, 
13. 

Miiller, Joseph, bibliography of Come- 
nius, 110. 

Munroe, James P., on Eabelais, 10 ; 
sketch of Comenius, 177. 

Music, 119. 

Naarden, burial place of Comenius, 76. 
Naturalism, 1. 

Nature, education according to, 90- 
97. 



Nivnitz, birthplace of Comenius, 

38. 
Nursing of children, 114. 

Orbispictus, 69, 130-138. 
Oxenstiern, Axel, 33, 58, 62. 
Oxford, university of, 63. 

Pffidagogium at Halle, 144. 

Pansophia, 51, 53, 64. 

Paulsen, Friedrich, on European uni- 
versities, 3. 

Pestalozzi, anticipated by Comenius, 
116 ; influenced by the JiJmile, 153 ; 
domestic education, 154; study of 
nature, 156 ; geography, 157. 

Philanthropinum of Basedow, 152. 

Physical training, 113-115. 

Pictures, use of, 98. 

Play, 160. 

Portraits of Comenius, 81. 

Private education, 87. 

Purpose of education, 85-89. 



Quick, Kobert Hebert, quoted, 

estimate of Comenius, 177. 
Quintilian, 99. 



169; 



Eabelais, on humanism, 10. 
Ratio studiorum of the Jesuits, 5. 
Eatke, Wolfgang, 28-35, 59. 
Eaumer, Karl von, 5, 6, 16, 

128. 
Eealism, 1. 

Eein, Wilhelm, 145, 179. 
Eeligious training, 102, 120-122. 
Eitter, Karl, 157. 
Eousseau, Jean Jacques, 146-149. 



IT, 



109-122, 



Saros-Patak, 64. 
Schiller, Hermann, 145. 
School of infancy, 103, 

175. 
Science, 98. 

Sense-training, 115, 147. 
Skyte, John, 58. 
Spencer, Herbert, 148. 
Sturm, John, 3, 5, 7, 14. 
Symbolism of Frobel, 164. 



Trotzendorf, Valentine Friedland, 3. 



University, 105. 



184 



INDEX 



Vergarius, Petrus Paulus, 8. 

Vernier, A. C, edition of the Janua, 
129. 

Vestibulum, 129. 

Vittorino da Feltre, 8. 

Vives, John Lewis, account of educa- 
tional views, 16-22. 

Volkelt, Johannes, 145. 

Volksschule of Germany, 158. 

Vostrovsky, Clara, 40. 



Vrbka, Anton, life of Comenius, 

178. 

"Westphalia, treaty of, 62. 
Women, education of, 18, 88. 

Zerotin, Karl von, patron of Comenius, 

46. 
Zoubek, Franz, edition of Comeniua' 

writings, 176. 



3 47 7 



